The murder of Zelenskyy was being prepared: the SSU said it had exposed FSS agents, including law enforcement officers

The Security Service of Ukraine reported that it had exposed a network of agents of the 5th service of the FSS of the Russian Federation who were preparing the assassination of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the head of the SSU Vasyl Maliuk and the head of intelligence Kyrylo Budanov.

Security forces also detained two colonels of the State Security Office of Ukraine (SSU), the SSU reported.

According to the Service, the 5th service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation wanted to eliminate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other representatives of the highest military and political leadership of the state.

It should be noted that the 5th service of the FSS is the Service of Operational Information and International Relations, which supervises the direction of international work.

The SSU notes that two UDO colonels, who «leaked» secret information of the Russian Federation, were part of the agent network whose activities the FSS supervised from Moscow.

«The enemy was actively developing plans to eliminate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. One of the tasks of the FSS agent network was to search for executors among the military, close to the protection of the President, who could take the Head of State hostage and later kill him,» the message reads.

According to the information of the investigation, in addition to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the enemy planned to eliminate the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the MDI Kyrylo Budanov and other high-ranking officials. For example, they were going to liquidate the head of the MDI, Kyylo Budanov, before Easter.

«The enemy's plan was as follows: first, the recruited agent was supposed to observe the movement of the person under guard and pass information to the enemy. According to the coordinates of the house where the official was supposed to be, a rocket attack was planned. Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the affected area with a drone. After that, the Russians planned to target with another missile, including to destroy traces of the use of the drone,» the SSU added.

They noted that the weaponry for the agent was provided by Colonel UDO, who personally brought FPV drones, charges for RPG-7, and MON-90 anti-personnel mines to Kyiv. The SSU recorded both the trips of the UDO colonel to another region of Ukraine for drones and explosives, as well as the conversations of the potential perpetrator of the terrorist attack with the «curator» from the FSS.

«A limited circle of people knew about our special operation, and I personally monitored its progress. The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin before the inauguration, was actually a failure of the Russian special services. But we must not forget that the enemy is strong and experienced, he cannot be underestimated. We will continue to work ahead of time so that every traitor receives the well-deserved court sentences,» said the Head of the SSU, Vasyl Malyuk.

The agency added that the organization of the terrorist attack was overseen by employees of the 9th Department of the Operational Information Department of the 5th Service: ⁠Maxim Mishustin, ⁠Dmytro Perlin and ⁠Aleksii Kornev.

In particular, according to the SBU, in January 2022 Dmytro Perlin became the curator of the «moles», who were recruited even before the full-scale invasion of Russia. Until then, his colleague Oleksii Korniev was «taking care» of them.

Before the start of the full-scale war, Oleksii Korniev held a series of conspiratorial meetings with the UDO colonel on the territory of neighboring European states. Funds for agents were also usually transferred abroad, the report says.

Detainees were searched, during which relevant weapons and other evidence of criminal activity were found and seized.

Currently, they have been notified of suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 2 of Article 111 (treason committed during martial law);
• part 1 of article 14, part 2 of article 258 (preparation for a terrorist act).

The suspect was remanded in custody. The extras face life imprisonment.

We will remind you that in April, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office, together with Polish law enforcement agencies, detained a Pole who collaborated with the Russian GRU and planned to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.