Ukrainian officials announced on Tuesday that they had thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other high-ranking officials, using a network of agents allegedly recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). The foiled attempt was intended to be a "gift" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was inaugurated for a fifth term at the Kremlin on the same day.
According to the SBU, Ukraine's state security service, the alleged agents were instructed to find someone close to the presidential guard who could take Zelenskiy prisoner - either in his office or when he left the building - and then kill him. The plot also targeted Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, and Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the SBU, both of whom are despised figures in Moscow.
The SBU identified three FSB intelligence officers as the masterminds behind the operation: Maxim Mishustin, Dmytro Perlin, and Aleksii Kornev, all from the ninth department of the FSB's fifth service. Perlin was allegedly responsible for handling a network of Ukrainian "moles" recruited before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Among the alleged Ukrainian agents was a colonel serving in Ukraine's state guard service, who reportedly held several secret meetings with Kornev in a neighboring European country prior to 2022. In February 2022, the colonel received a call from his FSB handler and was subsequently instructed to find someone in Zelenskiy's immediate entourage who could kidnap and kill him.
The FSB also provided detailed instructions for the assassination of Budanov, as revealed in an intercepted telephone call between Perlin and one of his alleged Ukrainian contacts. The plan involved a spotter keeping watch on a house used by Budanov, which the Russians intended to hit with a missile strike, followed by a kamikaze drone attack on other people at the site. A second missile strike would then cover up evidence of the drone attack.
The SBU said it recovered drones, warheads, and mines from one of the arrested Ukrainian accomplices, who, along with other members of the alleged network, faces charges of treason and terrorism. The FSB allegedly promised to pay $50,000 if the "business" was successfully carried out.
SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk, quoted by his agency on Telegram, said, "The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin for the inauguration, was indeed a failure of the Russian special services." He added, "We must not forget that the enemy is strong and experienced. He cannot be underestimated."
The White House expressed concern over the alleged assassination plot, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating, "Obviously we are glad that the potential assassination attempt was averted." U.S. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller added, "Obviously, it just speaks to the depravity that we've seen on display from the Putin regime since the outset of this conflict."
One intelligence source in Kyiv suggested that the plot might have been the result of an operation by mid-level officers seeking to impress their bosses, rather than being authorized by top officials in Moscow. "Possibly they were acting on their own initiative," the source said.
