Volodymyr Zelensky has escaped an assassination attempt by an alleged Russian “sleeper agent”, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service, Vasyl Malyuk, told reporters. He alleged that a plot by a retired military man, who is said to have been hired by Russia “decades ago” before being “activated”, was foiled. He aimed to eliminate the President of Ukraine at Rzeszów Airport, and several options are believed to have been considered, including the use of an FPV drone, and a “sniper complex”.
“All of this was implemented, we detained him. Polish colleagues worked professionally, it was our joint work with them,” Malyuk said. He added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ABW of Poland (Internal Security Agency). This is the analogue of the SBU in Poland, the so-called internal special service. We implemented an important criminal proceeding together with them. A military pensioner, a Pole, who was recruited decades ago, firmly believed in the Soviet idea and harboured his intention through the years.”
SBU officers and Polish law enforcement officers from the Agency for Homeland Security thwarted the plan, RBC-Ukraine reported.
UNN reports that another attempt to kill Zelensky was also stopped, allegedly organised by UDO (Ukraine’s Administration of State Guard) and FSB colonels.
Malyuk said: “A detained colonel of the UDO, head of the State Protection Management Department.
“These are those who are supposed to protect top officials in this country, and this is their function.
“At the same time, they were preparing an assassination attempt on our President, Volodymyr Zelensky.”
He added: “Another colonel was detained with him. They worked for the FSB of the Russian Federation, namely for the 5th Service.
“At that time, it was headed by Lieutenant General Beseda.
“By the way, after this failure, Putin removed him, and he remained an advisor in the FSB system.
“From our side, this was a very difficult job. We have been working on it for almost two years – essentially, since the beginning of the war.
“We carried out a powerful intelligence and technical penetration into this group.
“In addition to the assassination attempt on the President, they collected information, transmitted it, including preparing an assassination attempt on my colleague Kyrylo Oleksiyovych Budanov and on me personally.”
