Recently, two high-ranking collaborators were found to have organized assassination attempts against the top government officials in Kiev, Ukraine. This discovery raises questions about the extent of Moscow’s influence in Ukraine. The Ukrainian secret service, SBU, revealed that they had thwarted advanced attack plans against President Volodymyr Zelensky, SBU director Vasil Malyuk, and Kirilo Budanov, the head of military intelligence.

The SBU presented detailed results of their investigation, revealing that at least two colonels from the agency responsible for protecting high-ranking officials were recruited by the Russian secret service FSB. The plans included kidnapping and murdering President Zelensky, as well as targeting Budanov. The SBU managed to arrest the colonels and prevent the attacks from taking place.

While the exact details of the attack plans on Zelensky were vague, the plot to kill Budanov involved a recorded phone conversation between a Russian FSB agent and a Ukrainian accomplice. The authenticity of the recordings is difficult to verify, but the SBU believes the threat was real. This revelation sheds light on the ongoing infiltration by Russian agents in Ukraine and the challenges faced by the country’s counterintelligence efforts.

Despite facing numerous assassination attempts, both Zelensky and Budanov have survived multiple attacks. The escalation of such plots highlights the ongoing security threats faced by Ukrainian officials. While the SBU has made progress in identifying and arresting Russian agents, the extent of Moscow’s reach in Ukraine remains a concern for the government.

The infiltration of high-ranking Ukrainian officials by Russian agents has been a long-standing issue, dating back to the Maidan revolution in 2014. The SBU, with the help of its Western allies, has been working to purge the secret services of Russian influence. However, the recent discovery of assassination plots indicates that the threat of Russian interference persists, posing a significant challenge to Ukraine’s security and stability.