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Yahoo
10 hours ago
- 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.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russian drone attack on Ukrainian capital kills at least nine
A combined Russian missile and drone attack on Kiev killed at least nine people and injured at least 70, Ukrainian authorities on Thursday. More victims were believed to be trapped under the rubble, as rescue efforts were under way in the early hours of Thursday. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko told the UNIAN news agency that phones could still be heard ringing from the rubble. "The search will continue until we are sure we have everyone," he promised. Rescue teams were still searching for two missing children, he added. During the night, the Russian military carried out a massive airstrike on its neighbour. According to the authorities, drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles were used. There were strikes in several locations in Kiev, with the district of Svyatoshyn in the north-west of the capital the worst affected. Several high-rise buildings were damaged, and garages and a large number of cars were destroyed. There were casualties and damage in nine regions across the country. In addition to Kiev, the regions of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya and Zhytomyr were among those affected. In the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhya, a firefighter was injured while on duty when the Russians launched a second wave of attacks. Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for over three years.
Reuters
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Trump aides to visit Ukraine this week, Zelenskiy says
KYIV, Feb 10 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that members of U.S. President Donald Trump's team would travel to Ukraine this week, the first such visit at an important diplomatic juncture in the war with Russia. Zelenskiy, who is trying to forge close relations with Trump as the president seeks to rapidly end the war, said the visit would take place before the February 14-16 Munich Security Conference, though he did not clarify who would visit. "This week, some people from the Trump team, serious ones, will be in Ukraine - even before the Munich conference," he said in a video released by the UNIAN news agency. Zelenskiy also confirmed that he planned to meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Munich conference and that his team was trying to set up a meeting with Trump. "Our teams are also working on dialogue and a meeting with President Trump," he said, days after Trump said he would "probably" meet with Zelenskiy this week. The United States has been Ukraine's most important ally since Russia invaded in February 2022 and Kyiv is trying to win over the new Trump administration with an offer of a partnership to develop deposits of critical minerals. Russian troops have been gaining ground in the east for months, throwing huge resources at an unrelenting offensive while Kyiv's smaller army grapples with a shortage of soldiers and frets over future weapons supplies from abroad. Zelenskiy, who praised Trump's election win in November, has said it is important that he meets with the U.S. president in person to decide strategy, before Trump sits down for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has not clarified his policy to end the war, including whether the U.S. will continue providing weapons to Ukraine. Trump indicated on Sunday that he had been in contact with Putin, without specifying when. The Kremlin neither confirmed nor denied those contacts. "Let's see who, how and whether it is true," Zelenskiy said. On Monday, Russia's point man for relations with the United States said all of Putin's conditions must be met in full before the war in Ukraine could end. Those conditions include Ukraine dropping its NATO ambitions and withdrawing its troops from the entire territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and partly-controlled by Russia. Kyiv and its European allies see that as akin to capitulation. Zelenskiy said in Monday's remarks that he was expecting "productive work" with U.S. officials in Ukraine after the Munich Security Conference. Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is expected to visit Kyiv this month after the postponement of a visit that was initially planned before Trump's inauguration. Kellogg is also attending the Munich conference.
