Ukraine’s Zelenskyy fires head of state guard over assassination plot

Ukrainian state security said earlier this week that they unearthed an assassination plot including two state guards.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the head of the state guards following allegations that two members were involved in a plot to assassinate the embattled Ukrainian head of state.

Zelenskyy dismissed former leader of the state guards Serhiy Rud on Thursday, after the state security service (SBU) said earlier this week that it had unearthed an assassination plot against Zelenskyy and other important officials. A successor for Rud has yet to be named.

The SBU said that the assassinations were meant to be a “gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in office on Tuesday.

The SBU said that the two men, both colonels in the state guard, had planned to take Zelenskyy hostage and later kill him.

Other key officials, including SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence agency’s head, were also said to be targets of the failed effort.

Moscow has not commented on the allegations by the SBU, which alleged that the two bodyguards had passed on sensitive information to the FSB, Russia’s security service.

It is not the first assassination effort that the Ukrainian leader has faced down, stating last year that at least five Russian plots have been foiled since the war began.

Zelenskyy’s administration has faced growing difficulties in recent months, and has shaken up some key staffing positions as progress in the country’s war against Russia stalls out and officials face accusations of corruption.

In February, Zelenskyy named Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after dismissing General Valerii Zaluzhny from the position.