Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, announced at a briefing on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had foiled an assassination plot against President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a Telegram report from Ukrainian authorities.
Why it matters: Zelensky has said since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine that he would be a prime target for assassination. Last Thursday, he warned that Russian “sabotage groups” had entered Kiev and were hunting him and his family.
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The big picture: According to the Telegram report, Danilov said a unit of elite Chechen special forces, known as Kadyrovites† had been behind the plot and was subsequently ‘eliminated’.
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“We are well aware of the special operation that would be launched directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president,” Danilov said at the post.
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Ukrainian authorities had been tipped off about the plot by members of Russia’s Federal Security Service who did not support the war, he added.
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Danilov explained that the Kadyrovite group was split in two, with one destroyed at Gostomel and the other “under attack.”
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