Latest news with #Malyuk
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Plans to assassinate Zelensky in Kyiv, airport in Poland disclosed
June 23 (UPI) -- Details of two separate assassination plots against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year were described Monday by the head of Ukraine's security service. Two colonels assigned to protect Zelensky were working for the Russian FSB and plotting to assassinate him, the head of Ukraine's security service, Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, told journalists. He also described assassination plans in Rzeszow, Poland, at the airport. Some information from both incidents was disclosed last year, including the one by the colonels. "Last year, we carried out a major operation," Malyuk said. "One of those detained was the head of a department within UDO -- someone whose role is to protect this country's leadership. Alongside him, another colonel was arrested. Both were working for Russia's FSB, specifically its Fifth Service." Fifth Service is a part of Russia's federal security service. Malyuk said the plan was to identify and recruit people to assassinate Zelensky at the President's Office in Kyiv. "This was an extremely complex operation on our part. We worked on it for nearly two years, essentially from the beginning of the full-scale invasion. We managed to infiltrate the group using a powerful agent-technical operation," Malyuk said. In May 2024, Zelensky dismissed the head of the unit. Serhiy Rud had been in his job since 2019 and previously led the president's personal security unit. A Polish military veteran, who "was recruited decades ago and firmly believed in the Soviet cause" planned the operation at the airport, according to UNIAN news agency in a report by Notes from Poland. UNIAN only identified him as Paweł K. in accordance with Polish privacy laws. He considered several ways to assassinate the Ukrainian president, including using a drone or a sniper, Malyuk said. SBU and Poland Internal Security Agency uncovered the plans. He was taken into custody in Poland. Poland's interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, later Monday clarified that it was an incident publicly disclosed in April 2024. Rzeszow is the main hub for officials traveling in and out of Ukraine. Siemoniak's spokesman, Jacek Dobrzynski confirmed the suspect was indicted for the crime of "declaring readiness to act for the benefit of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Poland." It carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.
Qatar Tribune
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Ukraine reveals details of plot on President Zelensky's life last year
Kiev: Ukraine's SBU intelligence service on Monday released details of an alleged assassination plot against President Volodymyr Zelensky by a former Polish soldier. The plot, which was to be carried out in Rzeszów in south-eastern Poland, dates back to early last year, when arrests were made in both Ukraine and Poland. The soldier had been recruited by Russian intelligence services decades ago, motivated by a sense of nostalgia for the Soviet Union, SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said. A drone or a sniper was to be used to assassinate Zelensky at the city's airport, according to Malyuk. Among those involved were two former Ukrainian colonels from Zelensky's bodyguard, whose arrests Malyuk announced in May last year. The former Polish soldier was detained by Poland's ABW counterintelligence agency in April last year, based on information provided by the SBU. Polish prosecutors charged him last month with collaborating with a foreign intelligence agency. Rzeszów, a regional capital, lies about 70 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and serves as a key hub for arms deliveries and political visits to Ukraine. (DPA)
UPI
23-06-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Plans to assassinate Zelensky in Kyiv, airport in Poland disclosed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured in 2024 in Washington, D.C.) was the target of two separate assassination plots this past year, according to officials on Monday. File Photo by Ting Shen/UPI | License Photo June 23 (UPI) -- Details of two separate assassination plots against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year were described Monday by the head of Ukraine's security service. Two colonels assigned to protect Zelensky were working for the Russian FSB and plotting to assassinate him, the head of Ukraine's security service, Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, told journalists. He also described assassination plans in Rzeszow, Poland, at the airport. Some information from both incidents was disclosed last year, including the one by the colonels. "Last year, we carried out a major operation," Malyuk said. "One of those detained was the head of a department within UDO -- someone whose role is to protect this country's leadership. Alongside him, another colonel was arrested. Both were working for Russia's FSB, specifically its Fifth Service." Fifth Service is a part of Russia's federal security service. Malyuk said the plan was to identify and recruit people to assassinate Zelensky at the President's Office in Kyiv. "This was an extremely complex operation on our part. We worked on it for nearly two years, essentially from the beginning of the full-scale invasion. We managed to infiltrate the group using a powerful agent-technical operation," Malyuk said. In May 2024, Zelensky dismissed the head of the unit. Serhiy Rud had been in his job since 2019 and previously led the president's personal security unit. A Polish military veteran, who "was recruited decades ago and firmly believed in the Soviet cause" planned the operation at the airport, according to UNIAN news agency in a report by Notes from Poland. UNIAN only identified him as Paweł K. in accordance with Polish privacy laws. He considered several ways to assassinate the Ukrainian president, including using a drone or a sniper, Malyuk said. SBU and Poland Internal Security Agency uncovered the plans. He was taken into custody in Poland. Poland's interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, later Monday clarified that it was an incident publicly disclosed in April 2024. Rzeszow is the main hub for officials traveling in and out of Ukraine. Siemoniak's spokesman, Jacek Dobrzynski confirmed the suspect was indicted for the crime of "declaring readiness to act for the benefit of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Poland." It carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘He's a bulldog': the man behind the success of Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb
It was unsurprising to those who know Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), that his statement announcing the success of Operation Spiderweb had a certain physicality to it. The audacious drone attacks on distant bases hosting Russia's strategic bombers was 'a serious slap in the face to Russia's power', said Malyuk, 42, a sometime boxer and weightlifter. 'Our strikes will continue as long as Russia terrorises Ukrainians with missiles and Shahed drones.' Shaven-headed and with the physique and bearing of a stereotypical nightclub bouncer, Malyuk has led the SBU since the former holder of the office Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was fired in 2022 for apparent incompetence. Malyuk had been his deputy. There have been high-profile successes over the last three years. One stunt – a photograph of Malyuk holding a bruised Dmitry Kozyura, the head of the SBU's counter-terrorism department, by the scruff of the neck at the time of his arrest on suspicion of being a Russian double agent – attracted the coverage for which it was designed. When Zakhar Prilepin, a Russian paramilitary leader, survived a suspected SBU sponsored assassination attempt, one of a series targeting Ukrainian foes at the time, Malyuk made headlines by commenting that Prilepin's 'pelvis and legs were severely injured, and, sorry, he lost his genitals'. 'Therefore, it is God's will that he continue to live and enjoy life', he added drily. Meanwhile, Sea Baby marine drones, the SBU's own invention, are credited with striking 11 Russian military ships and pushing the Black Sea fleet 'all the way to Novorossiysk'. Though none of this compares to the global attention drawn by the 1 June attacks that were said to have been masterminded by Malyuk. 'I am confident that the SBU operations led by Vasyl Malyuk will be the subject of books and films,' said one SBU officer on condition of anonymity. 'Because compared to what the security service is doing now, Hollywood is nervously smoking on the sidelines.' The number of Russian aircraft permanently put out of action by the attack on four bases on Sunday is disputed, with Ukraine claiming to have destroyed 41. US intelligence officials suggest that 10 combat aircraft were destroyed and up to 20 damaged. Whatever the physical cost, the footage of the 117 drones flying out from the top of lorries to strike deep into Russia, and without the aid of western weaponry, has struck a psychological blow. Ukraine's foreign affairs minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, claimed it had 'changed the paradigm and dynamics' of the faltering peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Tuesday. It was followed by a massive underwater blast targeting the key road and rail bridge connecting the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia, damaging its supports. The attacks were serious enough for Vladimir Putin to inform Donald Trump in a transatlantic call that he would 'respond'. Four people in Kyiv were killed in the early hours of Friday morning after that vengeance was delivered in the form of a heavy barrage and drone attack on the capital. So who is the security chief who has got Putin's attention? 'He's a bulldog,' said one senior Ukrainian official who has worked closely with Malyuk. 'He isn't an intellectual, he doesn't reflect, or hesitate. He is purposeful.' 'But he isn't evil – that's important,' the source added. 'Often those heading these organisations are evil. Malyuk doesn't want to hurt anyone but he knows that sometimes he has to.' Malyuk was born in the city of Korostyshiv, 80 miles (130km) west of Kyiv, and it is said he was determined to join the SBU after it emerged as an independent body from the KGB following the breakup of the Soviet Union. He enrolled at 17 and attended the SBU's academy, finding friends most easily among those with a mutual appreciation of sport and exercise, and graduating with a degree in jurisprudence in 2005. 'He was very calm in his youth,' said a source who knew him then. 'He was always physically very strong. He was constantly training in the gym. He believes that when a person goes in for sports, he is disciplined and organised. He used to box, they say he injured his arm at some stage.' Unlike British or American domestic counter-intelligence, the SBU rolls up secret service operations with the sort of tasks that might fall to the police and special forces. Malyuk spent a large part of his career in anti-corruption and tackling organised crime. He rose to the position of deputy head of the SBU in his local city by 2019 which was when he first came across Zelenskyy, who was in the first months of his presidency. 'He got into a helicopter with Zelenskyy and began to show him all the violations in the Zhytomyr region,' said an SBU source. 'He showed him where amber was being illegally mined. Zelenskyy was impressed and said: 'I give Malyuk the authority to deal with these problems.'' Related: Operation Spiderweb: a visual guide to Ukraine's destruction of Russian aircraft A few months before Russia launched its full-scale war, there was a brief sojourn into the world of politics when he was made a deputy to the interior minister, Denys Monastyrsky. Sources said he had never shown any ambition to have a political career, something that has recommended him to many in intelligence circles, and he swiftly rejoined the SBU after Russia's invasion. The organisation was in a sorry state. The head of the spy agency in the Kherson region had withdrawn his agents ahead of Russia's occupation against Zelenskyy's orders. Bakanov, in what would turn out to be one of his last acts as chief, had enrolled his son in the service so ensuring he would avoid mobilisation. Russian agents were widely regarded to have penetrated the organisation. Malyuk is said to have set as a priority the task of turning out the moles. 'One of the good signs of Operation Spiderweb is that it didn't leak,' said one senior member of Ukraine's security. 'He has got rid of a lot of traitors. Not every one of them, as that's not possible. But a lot.' Malyuk also personally took an interest in the so-called Alpha unit within the SBU that carries out operations on and behind the frontline, to which he is a regular visitor. According to the service, since February the SBU has been responsible for destroying nearly 2,000 tanks, more than 3,000 armoured vehicles and host of aircraft, rocket launch systems and military facilities, including ammunition depots, as well as over 30 oil refineries. It is widely accepted that Malyuk himself would not have dreamed up Operation Spiderweb but he had the ability to see the potential and have the ear of the president. 'This idea was born deep inside the security services,' said Ivan Stupak, who was an SBU agent between 2004 and 2015. 'And this idea went directly to Mr Malyuk. He liked this idea. And there was one more obstacle, President Zelenskyy. There was high chance that Mr Zelenskyy would reject this idea but Mr Malyuk convinced Mr Zelenskyy.' Yuri Butusov, a military journalist, said Malyuk had also enabled the operation by disregarding hierarchy and pushing forward young agents and risk-takers. Unlike some at the top of government, his focus was on winning the war rather than factional disputes within the administration, he suggested. Related: The Guardian view on Ukraine's spectacular attack: 21st-century tactics still require support from allies | Editorial 'Malyuk has given the freedom of action and resources to promote very decisive, very responsible leaders, some of them very young people,' Butusov said. 'They are risk-takers. He is very different to other people in power. He sets aside political influence, economic and business interests.' Sources inside the government said they did not believe it was Malyuk's decision to publicise the operations to this extent. 'Zelenskyy is all about media attention, he eats and drinks it,' said one government source. Malyuk, in contrast, is said to keep his comments to the point when briefing ministers and expects a similar lack of verbosity from those within his service. Sources said the power and success had yet to go to Malyuk's head. 'If he sees problems in the heads of departments, he becomes tough,' said a second SBU officer. 'But in general, he is constructive. He gives his subordinates the time he thinks they need to complete their tasks. It's easier to govern when you have carte blanche. But you still need to earn carte blanche. And Malyuk earned this carte blanche.'
CNN
04-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Ukraine strikes bridge connecting Russia to Crimea with underwater explosives
Ukraine said on Tuesday that it had hit the bridge connecting Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula with explosives planted underwater, in its third attack on the vital supply line for Moscow's forces since the full-scale war began in 2022. Ukraine's security service, the SBU, said on Telegram that its agents had mined the piers of the road and rail Crimean Bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, and detonated the first explosive at 4.44 a.m. Tuesday. The whole operation took several months, it added. The agency said it had used 1,100 kilograms of explosives which 'severely damaged' the underwater pillars supporting the bridge. Traffic on the bridge was suspended early Tuesday morning, then again mid-afternoon, before resuming shortly before 6 p.m. local time. Although the scale of the damage was not immediately clear, Tuesday's attack is the latest example of the SBU's attempts to blindside Moscow and demonstrate that there are costs to continuing its war. On Sunday, the SBU launched an audacious drone attack on Moscow's fleet of nuclear-capable bombers, stationed at various Russian airfields thousands of miles away from Ukraine. Vasul Malyuk, the head of the SBU, said that attack caused an estimated $7 billion in damage and had struck 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers, which have been used to pummel Ukrainian cities throughout the war. The SBU said Malyuk had also overseen Tuesday's attack. 'God loves the Trinity, and the SBU always sees things through to the end and never does the same thing twice. We previously struck the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition, this time underwater,' Malyuk said. He stressed that the bridge is a 'completely legitimate target,' since Russia uses it 'as a logistical artery to supply its troops' fighting in mainland Ukraine. As well as serving as a vital supply line for Moscow's troops, the Crimean Bridge also has huge symbolic value for President Vladimir Putin, embodying his objective to bind the Ukrainian peninsula to Russia. Built after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Putin opened the bridge in 2018. The project cost around $3.7 billion. Tuesday's attack marks the third time that Ukraine has targeted the bridge since Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. In October of that year, a fuel truck exploded on the bridge, engulfing a part of it in flames. In July 2023, the SBU said it had blown up a part of the bridge using an experimental sea drone. Both times, Russia moved quickly to repair the damaged sections. As well as suspending traffic on the bridge, Russian authorities temporarily halted maritime traffic in the waters off Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, according to state media RIA Novosti.
