Several attempts to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin have been made, the head of the Ukrainian intelligence said today military intelligence Kirilo Budanov, quoted by DPA and BTA.
„But, as you can see, they were unsuccessful”, Budanov told the Ukrainian website “New Voice” (New Voice). The general did not say what his statements were based on. He also did not say whether his or other Ukrainian intelligence services were involved in the plans, DPA noted.
The agency recalls that Budanov has made provocative statements in the past as a form of psychological warfare. The Kremlin responded, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov making it clear that the president's security would be protected. “The threat from the regime in Kiev is obvious,” said Peskov, quoted by TASS.
According to Budanov, Putin is no longer a compromise figure accepted by the entire Russian elite, but since he has been in power for more than 20 years, Russians are afraid of losing him.
According to Budanov, when Putin dies, the reaction will be like when the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died in 1953. People in the Soviet Union then felt that “their whole world had collapsed, they did not know how to go on to live", commented Budanov.
Little is known about attempted attacks against Putin during his long rule. An assassination attempt on Putin by Caucasian men failed in May 2022, shortly after the Russian president ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov said. There is no evidence of such a thing, DPA notes.
In an interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had stopped counting the number of times he had heard of plans to kill him. Russian special forces pursued him in Kiev immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, DPA recalls.
In May 2024, the Ukrainian government reorganized the leadership of Zelensky's personal security following allegations that Moscow hired two officers to kill the president, Budanov and other officials, DPA recalls.