Ukraine thwarts assassination attempts on Zelensky by Russian agents

Ukrainians have thwarted another group of Russian agents preparing an assassination attempt on President Volodymyr Zelensky. From the first hours of the war, Kremlin's services have been lurking for his life.

The first two weeks of the war were the most dangerous. Only in the first two days of the conflict, there were five assassination attempts. None of them succeeded, although President Zelensky was seriously threatened several times. Especially on 25 February, when - wanting to discredit Russian propaganda that he had fled Kyiv to the west - he was recording videos, walking the capital's streets. At that time, the president's security experienced challenging moments since the city had dormant diversionary groups, which Ukrainian counterintelligence was slowly eliminating.

In those days, besides Zelensky, on the "hit list" were also brothers Volodymyr and Vitali Klitschko, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and the most influential people in the services—the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Maliuk, and the head of intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.

Over time, the list has extended to include local authorities of the occupied territories and community leaders.

On 19 March 2022, the mayor of Berislav, Oleksandr Shapoval and one local activist were kidnapped. On 23 March of the same year, the Russian military kidnapped the director of the drama theatre in Kherson, Oleksandr Kniga. A week later, in Hola Prystan, the Russian army kidnapped eight people, including the mayors of Hola Prystan and Stara Zburivka.

Russians used the same methods that the Bolsheviks used during the wars of 1917-1923—by eliminating local leaders, they deprived communities of their figureheads. In their place, they designated their people. These, in turn, gained obedience in every possible way.

For the Kremlin, eliminating leaders has been one of the most essential methods of conducting warfare for years.