Ukraine claims it foiled Russian plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy

State security service says two colonels arrested after it thwarted alleged plan to kill Zelenskyy, other top officials.

Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators claim to have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.

On Tuesday, the SBU said in a statement it had exposed a network of agents run by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) whose aim was to assassinate Zelenskyy and other senior Ukrainian political and military officials.

Two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, which protects top officials, were arrested on suspicion of treason to enact the plan drawn up by Russia, the SBU said.

Russia had worked to identify individuals close to Zelenskyy’s security detail, the statement said, adding that the colonels were recruited before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The two were tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Zelenskyy hostage and later kill him, the SBU statement said. It did not elaborate on when the alleged plot had been foiled.