Russian plot to kill Zelensky foiled, Kyiv says

Ukraine’s security services (SBU) say they have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials.

Two colonels from the Ukrainian government’s protection unit have been arrested.

The SBU said they were part of a network of agents belonging to the Russian State Security Service (FSB).

They allegedly sought “executors” among Mr. Zelensky’s bodyguards to kidnap and kill him.

Other targets included military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov and SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk, the agency added.

The group allegedly planned to kill Mr. Boudanov before Orthodox Easter, which this year falls on May 5.

According to the SBU, the conspirators aimed to use a mole to obtain information on its location, which they then attacked with rockets and drones.

One of the officers subsequently arrested had previously purchased drones and antipersonnel mines, the SBU said.

SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said the attack was meant to be “a gift to Putin before the inauguration,” referring to Russian Vladimir Putin who was sworn in for a fifth term as president at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

The operation turned into a failure of the Russian special services, Mr. Malyuk said.

“But we must not forget: the enemy is strong and experienced, he cannot be underestimated,” he added.

The two Ukrainian officials are suspected of treason and preparing a terrorist act.

The SBU said three FSB employees supervised the organization and the attack.

One of them, named Dmytro Perlin, was recruiting “moles” well before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Another FSB employee, Oleksiy Kornev, allegedly held “conspiratory” meetings “in neighboring European states” before the invasion with one of the Ukrainian colonels arrested Tuesday.

Russian forces have reportedly tried to kill Mr. Zelensky since the start of the war.