Two colonels from Ukraine’s State Guard have been arrested under suspicion of collaborating with Russia’s Federal Security Service on a plan to target top Ukrainian officials. Allegedly, the recruitment of these colonels took place before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the State Security Service, the plot involved an assault planned before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fifth-term inauguration. Maliuk claimed personal oversight of the covert operation aimed at thwarting the scheme. Ukrainian President Zelensky has reportedly been a recurrent target of Russian aggression, including during the onset of the Russian invasion in February 2022, as stated by Kyiv.
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Ukrainian security officials asserted that Russia aimed to identify individuals within Zelensky’s security detail who could potentially seize the Ukrainian leader and carry out his assassination. The two Ukrainian colonels have been arrested on suspicion of treason, an offense punishable by life imprisonment. Last month, Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors jointly announced the apprehension of a suspect believed to be involved in aiding a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky.
In another incident last August, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) disclosed the arrest of a woman involved in a scheme to assassinate the Ukrainian leader by gathering intelligence on his movements outside of Kyiv.
