Ukrainian security officials announced on Monday that they had successfully thwarted a coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the federal government in Kyiv. This comes as Russia intensifies its military and covert operations against the Ukrainian capital.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained four Ukrainian civilians over the weekend, suspecting them of plotting to seize Parliament and announce their intention to replace the existing military and civilian leadership. The SBU's investigation into the coup attempt began in May, and details have been gradually revealed.
According to the SBU, the conspirators operated under the guise of organizing a peaceful rally in Kyiv on Sunday. Despite dissident messages exchanged on social media, most participants in the event were allegedly unaware of the group's true intent to "force" the public to "choose a temporary government." The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office shared these findings in a Telegram post.
While it remains unclear if the group had any direct connections with Russian officials, the SBU noted that their scheme "would have played in Russia's hands." This statement aligns with accusations from U.S. and European intelligence officials who have reported Moscow ramping up its covert campaigns to undermine support for Ukraine.
"The aggressor is testing new tactics - he is looking for the right time, methods, and means," stated the Kyiv City Military Administration in a post to Telegram, referring to the recent Russian strategies. The administration highlighted the absence of ballistic and cruise missiles in the latest attack on the city but reminded citizens not to ignore air raid sirens that have been a constant in Kyiv for over two years. "No air alarm can be ignored," the administration stressed. "Rockets are shot down, but the molecules do not disintegrate, and the debris poses a threat to human life."
In a related development, the SBU claimed to have foiled a Russia-backed coup on Monday, which aimed to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelensky and install a pro-Kremlin government. The plotters intended to use a rally in central Kyiv to incite riots and capture the Ukrainian parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada.
"The perpetrators planned to announce the 'removal from power' of the current military-political leadership of Ukraine. They then hoped to seize the building of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada and block its work," stated the SBU. The coup was reportedly planned for Ukraine's Constitution Day on June 30.
Photos released by the SBU showed officers in balaclavas arresting several alleged plotters. The focus of the operations was in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of western Ukraine. The coup plotters, known pro-Russia agitators, had stashed caches of weapons, including assault rifles, a sniper rifle, and handguns. Cartons of ammunition, laptops, mobile phones, and hand-drawn coup instructions were also found during the raids.
"The perpetrators planned to disseminate information about the 'unrest' in Kyiv through domestic and foreign information resources," the SBU explained. "They hoped to destabilize the socio-political situation within our country, which would play out in favor of the Russian Federation."
The SBU identified the coup organizer as a "co-founder of a public organization known for its anti-Ukrainian actions since 2015" but declined to name him directly. The Kremlin has not commented on the allegations.
This coup attempt appears to be more extensive than previous plots, such as the one in May where the SBU arrested two Ukrainian colonels planning to kidnap and execute President Zelensky. The current plot involved grassroots organizations in multiple Ukrainian cities, including Dnipro.
As evidence, the SBU released an alleged voice recording of a conversation between two coup leaders. In the recording, one leader claimed to have the support of "not hundreds, but thousands" of people, and discussed plans to organize a large assembly or "Veche."
