Two colonels of the State Security Department, who were part of the FSB's agent network and aimed to eliminate President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other representatives of the country's top military and political leadership, have been detained.
This was reported by the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office.
"Yes, Russia was actively developing plans to eliminate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. One of the tasks of the FSB's agent network was to search for perpetrators among the military, close to the President's security detail, who could take the Head of State hostage and then kill him," the special service said in a statement.
In addition to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia planned to eliminate the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, and other senior officials.
For example, the liquidation of the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, was to take place before Easter. Earlier, Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview that he was aware of a new attempt on his life.
According to the report, the Russians planned to have a recruited agent follow the protected person. The coordinates of the house where the official was supposed to be were to be used to launch a missile strike. Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the site of the attack with a drone. After that, the Russians planned to hit the target with another missile, in particular to destroy the traces of the drone.
"Only a limited number of people knew about our special operation, and I personally controlled its course. The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin for his inauguration, was in fact a failure of the Russian secret service. But we should not forget that Russia is a strong and experienced enemy, and we should not underestimate it. We will continue to work proactively to ensure that every traitor receives a well-deserved court sentence," said SBU Head Vasyl Malyuk.
The SBU also added that the Russian Federal Security Service has once again confirmed the status of a terrorist organisation, as it was the employees of the 9th Directorate of the Operational Information Department of the 5th Service who led the organisation of the terrorist attack. These are Maxim Mishustin, Dmitry Perlin and Alexey Kornev.
In particular, in January 2022, Perlin became the supervisor of the "moles" who were recruited before Russia's full-scale invasion. Until then, they had been "looked after" by his colleague Alexei Kornev.
Before the start of the full-scale war, Kornev held a series of secret meetings with a colonel of the State Protection Department of Ukraine in neighbouring European countries. Funds for the agents were also usually transferred abroad.
Searches were conducted at the offenders' places of residence, during which the relevant munitions and other evidence of criminal activity were found and seized. They were served a notice of suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
Article 111, paragraph 2 (high treason committed under martial law);
Article 14, part 1, part 2, Article 258 (preparation for a terrorist act).
The suspects have been detained as a measure of restraint. The defendants face life imprisonment.