The Ukrainian security service, SBU, states that it has prevented a terrorist attack against Kiev.
Intelligence sources states for Kyiv Post that the Russian GRU planned to carry out the attack on May 9, on Russian Victory Day.
“The SBU acted prematurely and the perpetrators behind the terrorist attack were caught red-handed,” writes SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko in a statement.
On Thursday, May 9, Russia celebrated Victory Day, commemorating the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II. At the same time, the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, is said to have planned to carry out a terrorist attack in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
Intelligence sources tell the Kyiv Post that no further details can be disclosed at this time and refer to a statement from the authority’s spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko.
“The SBU acted prematurely and the perpetrators behind the terrorist attack were caught red-handed. Evidence has also been collected, which undoubtedly confirms Russia’s involvement,” writes Dekhtyarenko.
According to the SBU, more information about the incident and the effort will be communicated later.
Averted assassination attempt on Zelenskyi
The planned attack on Kiev is not the only one stopped by the SBU this week. On Tuesday, the security service announced that it had stopped a Russian assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Zelensky. According to the plans, the attack was also aimed at several other Ukrainian politicians and was supposed to be carried out with the help of several agents.
According to Ukraine, the Russian agents must have belonged to a network that was monitored by the Russian intelligence service FSB. According to the SBU, they must have been employed by the Ukrainian military to infiltrate and later assassinate Zelenskyi.
“One of the tasks of the FSB network of agents was to find perpetrators among the military, who were close enough to potentially take the head of state hostage, and then kill him,” wrote the SBU in the statement.
– The terrorist attack, which was intended as a gift to Putin before the installation, was actually a failure of the Russian special services, says Vasyl Malyuk, head of the SBU.
The operation that led to the arrests is said to have been personally supervised by Malyuk, who believes that only a small circle within the SBU knew about the special operation.