Ukraine says it exposed network of agents preparing assassination attempt on Zelenskyy

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine said on Tuesday that it exposed a network of agents affiliated with Russia’s security services who were preparing an assassination attempt on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A statement by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) on Telegram said two colonels from the country’s Administration of State Guard were detained as part of an operation conducted by counterintelligence and SBU investigators.

The statement claimed that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) planned to “eliminate” Ukraine’s president and other representatives of the country's top military and political leadership.

It claimed that the two colonels were being supervised by the FSB and leaked secret information to Moscow, indicating that one of the network's tasks was to search for someone among the military close to Zelenskyy’s security, who could take him hostage and later kill him.

“In addition to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the enemy planned to eliminate the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov and other high-ranking officials,” it further said.