Ukraine reveals details of alleged plot to assassinate President Zelensky last year

6.24.25
Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service on Monday released details of an alleged assassination plot against President Volodymyr Zelensky by a former Polish soldier. The plot, which was to be carried out in Rzeszow in south-eastern Poland, dates back to early last year, when arrests were made in both Ukraine and Poland. The soldier had been recruited by Russian intelligence services decades ago, motivated by a sense of nostalgia for the Soviet Union, SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said. A drone or a sniper was to be used to assassinate Zelensky at the city’s airport, according to Malyuk. Among those involved were two former Ukrainian colonels from Zelensky’s bodyguard, whose arrests Malyuk announced in May last year.

The former Polish soldier was detained by Poland’s ABW counter-intelligence agency in April last year, based on information provided by the SBU. Polish prosecutors charged him last month with collaborating with a foreign intelligence agency. Rzeszow, a regional capital, lies about 70km (43.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border and serves as a key hub for arms deliveries and political visits to Ukraine. When travelling abroad, Zelensky typically takes a train from Kyiv to Rzeszow, where he then boards a Ukrainian government plane.

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