SBU foiled assassination attempt on Zelenskyy by Soviet-ideology pensioner in Poland in 2024
In 2024, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), in collaboration with Polish authorities, prevented an assassination attempt on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Rzeszów airport in Poland, SBU head Vasyl Maliuk revealed during a meeting with journalists on Monday, as reported by public broadcaster Suspline and RBC-Ukraine.
The suspect, a military pensioner who “fervently believed in the Soviet idea,” planned to attack Zelenskyy using either a drone or a sniper rifle.
“It was all executed, and we detained him. Our Polish colleagues worked professionally, and it was a joint effort,” Malyuk said.
Polish prosecutors charged the suspect under an article carrying up to eight years in prison. He remains in custody.
Maliuk also disclosed another plot in Kyiv involving colonels from Ukraine’s Department of State Protection (UDO) allegedly working for Russia’s FSB Fifth Service. The group sought to recruit individuals close to Zelenskyy’s security detail to assassinate him during movements within the President’s Office.
The SBU spent nearly two years infiltrating this agent network, which also gathered intelligence and planned attacks on Main Intelligence Directorate chief Kyrylo Budanov and Maliuk himself.
Assassination attempts on Zelenskyy
In May 2022, Zelenskyy reported surviving 10 assassination attempts. By March 2024, he stated the number had exceeded 10, noting one attempt resulted in deaths inside the President’s Office.
In May 2024, the SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General announced the arrest of a group of Russian agents, including Department of State Protection (UDO) members, plotting attacks on Zelenskyy, Budanov, Maliuk, and other Ukrainian officials.
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