Polish, Ukrainian security services thwarted 2024 assassination attempt on Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the target of an assassination plot to be carried out by a Polish pensioner who had first been recruited by the Soviet Union decades ago, the head of the country’s internal security agency said.

Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, head of Ukraine’s SBU, the main internal security agency of the Ukrainian government, detailed the alleged plot in a closed briefing with Ukrainian media.

Malyuk said the Polish man was activated by Russia with a plan to take out Zelensky at Poland’s Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport using either a first-person view drone or a sniper rifle, TSN reported.

The would-be assassin was a firm believer in Soviet ideology, RBC reported, and maintained his beliefs for years. But the plot was foiled by a joint effort between the SBU and the Polish internal security service (ABW).

Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for Poland’s Ministry of the Interior and Administration, recalled a public statement made at the time by the ABW, which reported the detention of a Polish national, identified only as Paweł K., in the Lublin region of eastern Poland.

Zelensky has been the target of many foiled assassination plots since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2023, Zelensky said he had lost track of how many times there had been attempts on his life.

In May 2024, Ukraine said it had detained two Ukrainian colonels from its state security department who had leaked information to Russia and were plotting to kill Zelensky and other senior officials.

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