Ukraine thwarts plan to assassinate President Zelensky

The statement from the SBU did not publicly name the detained woman but said she was from the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine.

The SBU said the woman had “exploited intelligence” about Mr Zelensky’s visit to Mykolaiv in late July, helping Ukraine’s opponents prepare an air strike to kill him.

However, SBU agents received information about “anti-government activities of the suspected individual” and applied additional security measures, which helped to prevent the plan.

The SBU said it had “caught the woman red-handed” “while she was passing intelligence information to the opposition”.

While monitoring the woman's communications, the SBU also discovered that she had been tasked with locating electronic warfare systems and ammunition warehouses used by the Ukrainian armed forces.

She was present and filmed videos of subjects in Ukraine in many places in the Mykolaiv region.

According to the investigation, the perpetrator is a resident of Ochakov, Mykolaiv region, and was an employee of a store selling military goods.

“Everyone is armed with automatic weapons”

Mr Zelensky has faced repeated assassination attempts since the armed conflict began in February 2022. Enemy special forces have been tasked with eliminating the Ukrainian president since the war began.

In an article published in April 2022, TIME Magazine described how Russian soldiers parachuted into the city of Kyiv to kill or kidnap Mr. Zelensky and his family on February 24, when the war began.

As Ukrainian forces faced off with Russian soldiers on the streets of Kyiv, the president's security detail attempted to seal off the compound with police barricades and plywood, TIME reported.

Oleksiy Arestovych, a military intelligence veteran, said Mr Zelensky and his 12 advisers were provided with bulletproof vests and rifles as Russian soldiers tried to enter the compound.

“The situation was absolutely crazy. Everyone was armed with automatic weapons.”

Mr Zelensky refused advice from his security team to flee the compound, and he also refused when British and American forces offered to help evacuate him, famously saying: “I don’t need transportation. I need ammunition.”

Mr Zelensky then stepped outside the compound and filmed a video message as Ukrainian soldiers continued to confront Russian troops nearby.

More assassination plots

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in March 2022 that Mr. Zelensky had survived many assassination attempts.

“Foreign sources mentioned two or three plots. I believe there were at least 12 similar plots. We constantly receive intelligence about reconnaissance groups trying to infiltrate government security areas,” Podolyak told Ukrainska Pravda.

In an interview with CNN in July, shortly before the assassination attempt, Zelensky spoke about having to live every day and face the reality that he was in the crosshairs of Russian forces:

“Honestly, I decided that if I had to think about these conspiracies all the time, I would lock myself away. It was like Putin never came out of his bunker.”

Mr Zelensky also said he believed it was important for struggling Ukrainians to see that their president faced the same threats they did.

“If I isolate myself, I will not see what is happening around me in my country. I will lose my connection to society. And if I lose that connection, society will also lose its connection. I believe that the community needs to see that when they are at risk, their president is at risk with them.”

“Of course they know that I am protected, but I have to stand by my people.”

Mr Zelensky said he had entrusted responsibility for his personal safety “to experts”, and he “could clear his mind to think about strategic issues”.

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