Zelensky Fires Security Chief After Thwarted Assassination Plot Revealed

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday fired the head of his country's State Security Administration (UDO), days after Kyiv officials announced a foiled Russian plot to assassinate him.

According to a presidential decree published by Zelensky's office, Serhii Rud was dismissed from his position as director of the UDO, which is in charge of security for Zelensky and other high-ranking officials. The decree did not explain why Rud was fired and Zelensky's office did not announce his replacement.

The decision follows an announcement from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday that it had intercepted a plan, led by agents at Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), to kill Zelensky and several other senior Kyiv officials. Two colonels at the UDO were detained in the aftermath, and the SBU said in a post to Telegram that the plot included "individuals among the military close to [Zelensky]'s security who could take the head of state hostage and later kill him."

Newsweek was unable to independently verify the SBU's claims. An email requesting comment has been sent to Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry and Zelensky's press office.

Zelensky said during an interview with The Sun in November that he has lost track of the number of times that Moscow officials have attempted to assassinate him since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Kremlin officials have denied ever plotting to eliminate Zelensky.

Last month, the SBU said that it worked alongside Polish law enforcement to identify an individual who had offered to help Russia's FSB in planning Zelensky's assassination while he traveled to Poland. Officers in Warsaw detained the suspect, a Polish citizen, and charged him with working for a foreign intelligence service.

The latest plot, according to Kyiv's security service, involved watching Ukrainian officials "under guard" of the UDO "pass information to the enemy." The FSB would then coordinate a missile attack on the location of the targeted Ukrainian officials, the SBU claimed.

"Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the affected area with a drone. After that, the Russians planned to target with another missile, including to destroy traces of the use of the drone," the SBU said in its post to Telegram.

The head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, said that he personally oversaw the service's investigation into the alleged plot and that it was "supposed to be a gift" to Russian President Vladimir Putin before he was inaugurated for a fifth term in office on Tuesday.

The terrorist attack ... was actually a failure of the Russian special services," Malyuk said. "But we must not forget—the enemy is strong and experienced, he cannot be underestimated. We will continue to work ahead of time, so that every traitor receives the well-deserved court sentences."