Ukrainian authorities foiled an alleged plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, the Secret Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced on Monday.
SSU authorities detained a Russian informant who was allegedly collecting information about Zelensky’s visit to the Mykolaiv oblast last week. She allegedly sought information about the times he would be at specific locations and planned to transmit that data to Russia, which would have launched an airstrike to assassinate him, the SSU wrote in a statement.
The alleged plot comes amid Kyiv’s latest counteroffensive in which Ukrainian forces are seeing to reclaim control of Russian-occupied territory, including Crimea, a region Russia annexed in 2014. Although there have been reports that the counteroffensive has been proceeding at a slower pace than hoped, Ukraine continues to push back against Russian-controlled territory, launching new airstrikes against Russian territory.
The suspected informant has not been identified, beyond that she is a woman from Ochakiv, a city in the Mykolaiv oblast, who worked at a military shop. According to the SSU, she was instructed to identify the location of the military’s electronic warfare systems and ammunition depots near Ochakiv.
Russian “occupiers” then allegedly planned to use the information to launch strikes during Zelensky’s visit. The SSU deployed “additional security measures” to ensure the president’s safety, according to the statement.
“The SSU apprehended the traitor ‘red-handed’ when she was trying to pass intelligence to the invaders,” the statement reads.
She allegedly drove around the target area and took photos and videos of Ukrainian facilities to prepare intelligence for Russia, the SSU said. She also tried to gain more intelligence through her connections in hopes that acquaintances would “unwittingly provide certain information.”
Russia has not publicly responded to Ukraine’s claim.
Newsweek reached out to Zelensky’s office and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
Zelensky wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that he has been briefed on the “situation at the front.”
“The Main Intelligence Directorate and the Foreign Intelligence Service provided the data received from Russia. We understand the enemy’s immediate plans. Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Malyuk reported on the struggle against traitors in Ukraine,” he wrote.
Throughout the Ukraine war, there have been several attempts on Zelensky’s life, particularly in the weeks after Putin launched the invasion on February 24, 2022. By March 9, Ukraine said that Zelensky had survived more than a dozen assassination attempts.
- Newsweek
