Plan to murder Ukrainian president is latest in series of attempt on his life since Russian invasion began
The two men were colonels in Ukraine's state guard service recruited by Russia 's Federal Security Service who leaked classified information to Moscow, the Security Service of Ukraine said on the Telegram app.
They were tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Mr Zelenskiy hostage and later kill him, the SBU statement said, without making clear at what point the alleged plot had been foiled. “The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin for the inauguration, was indeed a failure of the Russian special services,” SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk was quoted as saying by his agency on Telegram.The Kremlin declined to comment last month when asked about the arrest in Poland of a man accused of working with Russian intelligence to prepare a possible attempt to assassinate Mr Zelenskiy.
Mr Budanov’s assassination was supposed to happen before Orthodox Easter Sunday on May 5th, it added. The agents sought to inform the Russian side of the whereabouts of Mr Budanov so they could carry out missile and drone attacks at the location, it said. One of the arrested men was involved in transporting and storing drones and explosives for the operation, it added.
Ukraine-Crisis Volodymyr-Zelenskiy Vladimir-Putin
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ukraine-Russia war: US secretly shipped long-range ATACMS missiles to UkraineMissiles were in a military aid package Biden approved in March and have been used twice by Kyiv
Read more »
US to provide new Patriot missiles for Ukraine as part of additional $6bn aid packageUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls for Patriot missiles to ‘save lives right now’
Read more »
US to provide new Patriot missiles for Ukraine as part of additional $6bn aid packageUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls for Patriot missiles to ‘save lives right now’
Read more »
Russian strikes on Ukraine kill seven people in Kharkiv and Odesa regionsRussia attacked with more than 40 missiles and 40 drones overnight, Zelenskiy says
Read more »
US accuses Russia of using 'chemical weapon' in UkraineThe US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow.
Read more »
Russia makes more gains around Avdiivka as Ukraine awaits US aidInstitute for the Study of War says the Kremlin is seeking to exploit a window of opportunity before US assistance is delivered
Read more »