Ukraine reportedly foiled a Zelensky assassination plot after a tipoff from Russian authorities

An alleged assassination plot against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was thwarted over the weekend, The Washington Post reports per a Ukrainian security leader, who also noted the Chechen special forces behind the plot had been "eliminated."

Ukraine's Oleksiy Danilov confirmed Tuesday that officials were "recently tipped off that a unit of Kadyrovites, elite Chechen special forces, was on its way to kill Zelensky," the Post writes. Interestingly, members of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) were reportedly the ones to alert Ukraine of the possible attack.

The Chechen special forces "were killed Saturday on the outskirts of Kyiv," adds the Post.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president. And I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war," Danilov said. "And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president."

According to a Ukrainian newspaper, Russian President Vladimir Putin last month directed the Chechen leader Kadyrov to carry out the assassination, the Post reports.

Danilov also said "he was thankful for members of Russia's Federal Security Service who alerted Ukrainian officials to the assassination plot," the Post writes. He noted that there are two Kadyrovite groups — one that was tracked down and destroyed, and one that "is now, so to speak, under fire," he said.

Neither the Chechens nor Putin has publicly commented on Ukraine's claim that the Chechen forces were sent to kill Zelensky and were then killed themselves.