Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators said Tuesday they foiled a plot by Russian agents to kill President Volodymyr Zelensky and other high-level officials.
Two columns in Ukraine's State Guard, which protects top officials, were arrested on suspicion of treason for carrying out the plan, Ukraine's state security service said in a statement, adding that the plot was hatched by Russia's Federal Security Service. .
Moscow has not yet reacted to the statement, which said the colonels were recruited ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, was really a failure of the Russian special services," said Vasyl Maliuk, head of Ukraine's State Security Service.
The United States and most of the countries of the European Union skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Putin for the 6th term this Tuesday.
Zelensky said in 2022 that there had been at least 10 attempts to kill him. A Pole was arrested in April on charges of working with Russia's GRU military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky is leading Ukraine's efforts to counter Russian aggression as the war enters its third year.