'Death of Zelensky was supposed to be gift for Putin's inauguration'
Vladimir Putin (71) took the oath of office as president of Russia on Tuesday. It marks the start of his fifth six-year term at the head of the Kremlin. In his speech, Putin emphasized that Russians as a "great and united people" would emerge stronger together from this "difficult period". "Together we overcome these obstacles (...), together we will overcome," the 71-year-old Russian politician said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky, for his part, escaped an assassination attempt. The order for this assassination was given by the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has announced the arrest of 2 agents accused of involvement in a Russian-coordinated plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior officials. The SBU has dismantled a network of Russian FSB agents who planned to assassinate the Ukrainian president, the agency said in a statement. In addition to President Zelensky, the head of the security service, Vasily Maliuk, and the head of the defence ministry's intelligence service, Kirilo Budanov, were also targets of Russia, according to the SBU.
The two arrested agents worked for the service responsible for the security of Ukrainian ministers and the president, and are charged with high treason. They risk life in prison.
"The terror attack, which was intended as a gift to Putin at his inauguration, turned out to be a failure of the Russian secret services," reports Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the SBU.
(SR/Illustration picture: Unsplash)
