Tags:

Ukrainian authorities thwart Zelensky assassination plot, top official says

Tue, March 1, 2022, 8:50 PM

A top Ukrainian official revealed on Tuesday that authorities in the country thwarted an alleged assassination plot against President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During a briefing, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council chief Oleksiy Danilov disclosed that Ukrainian forces stopped a plan to kill Zelensky, according to a Telegram post by Ukrainian authorities.

Danilov said the Kadyrovites - made up of elite Chechen special forces, according to Axios - had a plot to "eliminate our president."

"We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president," Danilov said, according to the Telegram post translated by Axios.

Danilov said individuals from Russia's Federal Security Service who are not in favor of war told authorities about the plot.

He added that the Kadyrovites group that was behind the assassination plot was split into two - one was destroyed in Gostomel and the other is "under fire," according to Axios.

News of the alleged assassination plot came on the sixth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began last week when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation into the former Soviet state.

Moscow's forces have attacked a number of cities, but fierce Ukrainian resistance from the military and armed, private citizens has slowed their efforts.

Russian shelling hit a number of locations in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Tuesday as Russian forces moved closer to Kyiv.

In the past days, Zelensky has emerged as a global hero as he remains in his home country leading a defense effort despite the risk posed to him.

Zelensky was elected president in 2019. Before that, he was an actor and comedian.