By Emmanuel Nduka
Shortly after Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a new term as President, two Russian agents were caught plotting to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as a ‘gift’ for Putin, Ukraine’s state security service said on Tuesday.
Heritage Times HT reports that the attempted killing was reportedly timed to take place shortly before Putin was sworn in for a new term in the Kremlin.
The alleged plan was said to include taking Zelensky hostage before executing him.
Targets were also said to include other senior Ukrainian officials.
The two alleged agents were colonels in Ukraine’s state guard service recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on the Telegram app.
The duo were allegedly tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Zelensky 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.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has not commented on the matter.
