The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Alexei Danilov, said at a briefing on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had thwarted a assassination plot against President Vladimir Zelensky, according to a Ukrainian Telegram publication.
Why it matters: Since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky said he would be the main target of the assassination. Last Thursday, he warned that Russian “sabotage groups” had entered Kyiv and were hunting him and his family.
The big picture: According to a statement in the Telegram, Danilov said that elite Chechen special forces, known as Kadyrovites, he was behind the conspiracy and was subsequently “eliminated”.
- “We are well aware of the special operation that had to be carried out directly by the cadres to overthrow our president,” Danilov said in a statement.
- Ukrainian authorities have been informed of the plot by members of Russia’s Federal Security Service who do not support the war, he added.
- Danilov clarified that the Kadyrov group was divided into two, one destroyed in Gostomel and the other “under fire”.
Go deeper: What to know about the wartime president of Ukraine