Ukrainian secret service uncovers 'Russian plots' against Zelensky

Kiev, May 8 (IANS/DPA) Ukrainian security authorities have claimed that they had uncovered Russian attack plans against President Volodymyr Zelensky and other politicians.

The Ukrainian secret service SBU on Tuesday said that two officers from the Ukrainian State Security Department responsible for the president's personal protection had been detained in connection with possible attacks.

They are said to have provided the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB with information in return for money and were supposed to have taken part in the attack themselves.

"One of the tasks of the FSB network was to find assassins among the military who were close to the president's personal security so that they could take the head of state hostage and then kill him," the SBU statement in Kiev said. According to the information, the officers held the rank of colonels.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office confirmed the investigation and the arrests.

However, there was no independent confirmation of the incident outside the Ukrainian security authorities.

SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk and the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, were also named as possible targets.

The SBU published what it said were intercepted conversations in which the Russian side offered a Ukrainian officer $50,000 for information and to take part in an assassination attempt.