Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has survived three attempts to assassinate him thanks to anti-war officials within the Russian Security Services (FSB) giving his team tip-offs.
Both mercenaries of the Kremlin-backed Wagner group and Chechen special forces had been tasked with killing the president in the past few days, but their attempts have so far failed, The Times reports.
The Wagner forces are said to have suffered a lot of losses in their bid to eliminate Mr Zelensky, while a source close to the group told the news outlet they found it “eerie” how his security team appeared to be well briefed.
An attempt to kill Zelensky was foiled on Tuesday thanks to FSB informants who “did not want to take part in this bloody war”.
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An elite group of Chechen special forces, known as Kadyrovites, had sought to “eliminate” the Ukrainian leader but were “destroyed” on Tuesday night, according to Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council chief Oleksiy Danilov.
“We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president,” Mr Danilov said, according to a Telegram post written by the Center for Strategic Communications.
“I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who do not want to take part in this bloody war,” Mr Danilov said. “And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president.”
According to The Times, the Wagner group – an elite private army carrying out Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dirty work abroad – has 24 high-profile Ukrainians on its hit list, while there are still 400 of them in the capital, suggesting it could take them just a few days to accomplish their task.
“It only takes one of them to get lucky and everyone goes home with a bonus,” The Times was told.
According to Dr Sean McFate, a former private military contractor, Wagner forces have been deployed by Mr Putin “as shock troops, as assassins… as a fifth column in front of the Russian invasion”.
Their goals will be “to cause mayhem, to cause fear… not to worry about collateral damage or human rights, to be as brutish as necessary, and to be as clever and cunning as needed”, says McFate, speaking to i from Washington.
“They’ll be in small groups of three to eight. They will blend in, they will not wear uniforms, they will speak Ukrainian.”
Mr Zelensky spoke out last week to say he was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “number one target” with the Kremlin seeking to overthrow his government and install a pro-Russian leader. But despite the danger to himself and his family, he vowed to stay and fight for his country.
Mr Zelensky has refused a US offer to evacuated him to safety by replying: “The fight is here. I need ammunition, I don’t need a ride”.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vaW5ld3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy9wcmVzaWRlbnQtemVsZW5za3ktc3Vydml2ZXMtdGhyZWUtYXNzYXNzaW5hdGlvbi1wbG90cy10aXAtb2Zmcy1mcm9tLXJ1c3NpYW4tc3BpZXMtMTQ5NzY1MdIBdmh0dHBzOi8vaW5ld3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy9wcmVzaWRlbnQtemVsZW5za3ktc3Vydml2ZXMtdGhyZWUtYXNzYXNzaW5hdGlvbi1wbG90cy10aXAtb2Zmcy1mcm9tLXJ1c3NpYW4tc3BpZXMtMTQ5NzY1MS9hbXA?oc=5
2022-03-04 07:46:00Z
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