The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) claims to have thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials.
Two Ukrainian government protection unit colonels have been arrested in connection with the plot. The SBU alleges that they were part of a network of agents belonging to the Russian state security service (FSB) and were searching for individuals to carry out the assassination, including Mr. Zelensky's bodyguards. Targets also included military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov and SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk. The group planned to kill Mr. Budanov before Orthodox Easter, using a "mole" to obtain his location and then attack with rockets and drones. The operation was described as a "gift to Putin before the inauguration" of Vladimir Putin as Russia's president. The SBU stated that three FSB employees oversaw the organization and the attack, with one recruiting "moles" before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Another FSB employee reportedly held meetings in neighboring European states before the invasion with one of the arrested Ukrainian colonels.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
