With the continuing of the Russian advances in the 600-mile long frontline – especially in Donetsk oblast, and now in the north in Kharkov region, the space in the MSM has to be filled with new kinds of Ukrainian ‘victories’.
And so we have learned that Ukrainian services claim to have foiled yet another assassination attempt against President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky has lost a good deal of popularity since the start of the war, and increasingly more so after dismissing his main political rival, General Valery Zaluzhny, from the position of Commander in Chief.
This week, Ukrainian SBU arrested two colonels in the state guard service, accused of plotting the assassination of Zelensky and other top officials – and now, the head of the State Guards has also been dismissed.
Reuters reported:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the head of the state guards on Thursday, two days after two of its members were accused of plotting to assassinate the president.
Zelensky issued a decree dismissing Serhiy Rud. No successor was identified.
[…] The SBU said the assassinations were to have been a ‘gift’ for Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in the Kremlin on Tuesday.”
While there is a possibility that this was indeed a Russian plot, it does not seem so – since there exists a standing guarantee by Putin – that has not been fully withdrawn – that Zelensky would not be personally targeted.
Also, a Russian plot could be much more heavy handed than the infiltration of his personal security detail.
Fact is: a foiled plan by Russia is a micro-victory. A foiled plan by internal enemies means a painful admission that they will not want to do.
State Guard commander Serhiy Rud was dismissed.
So, SBU has said the men were recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow.
“The men, the SBU said, were tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Zelensky hostage and later kill him. There was no indication at what point the alleged plot had been foiled.”
Zelensky has stated that his security services have foiled at least five Russian plots to assassinate him.
“The SBU said the spy group also planned to kill SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence agency’s head.”
Newsweek reported:
“According to a presidential decree published by Zelensky’s office, Serhii Rud was dismissed from his position as director of the UDO, which is in charge of security for Zelensky and other high-ranking officials. The decree did not explain why Rud was fired and Zelensky’s office did not announce his replacement.
The decision follows an announcement from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday that it had intercepted a plan, led by agents at Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), to kill Zelensky and several other senior Kyiv officials. Two colonels at the UDO were detained in the aftermath, and the SBU said in a post to Telegram that the plot included ‘individuals among the military close to [Zelensky]’s security who could take the head of state hostage and later kill him’.”
Zelensky has ‘lost track’ of the number of times that Moscow officials have attempted to assassinate him since February 2022.
Kremlin officials have naturally denied ever plotting to eliminate Zelensky.
“Last month, the SBU said that it worked alongside Polish law enforcement to identify an individual who had offered to help Russia’s FSB in planning Zelensky’s assassination while he traveled to Poland. Officers in Warsaw detained the suspect, a Polish citizen, and charged him with working for a foreign intelligence service.”
Read: Ukrainian Elite Fighters Discuss Deposing Zelensky in Leaked Chats: ‘Let’s Demolish This Green Rat!’
Russian media is happy to supply alternative explanations for the issue.
Political analyst Alexander Asafov told Sputnik: “The alleged plot “could be an artificial ideological construct intended to divert attention from genuinely significant issues, such as the forcible conscription of individuals and their deployment to the front lines.”
It could also be used to divert from Zelensky’s legitimacy issue, since the Ukrainian leader’s presidential term expires on May 22th.
“Some experts also believe that a fierce struggle has broken out in Zelensky’s inner circle, following on from the conflict between the Ukrainian president and Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhny and other generals over the botched summer counteroffensive.
If the alleged plot was not a PR stunt, then Zelensky could have been targeted by either the military or political competitors, according to Asafov.”
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) says that the West is extremely concerned about Zelensky’s growing unpopularity at home, and has ‘stepped up its search for an alternative Ukrainian president’.
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