Original source the Times UK. Found it on a Dutch News site.
The Chechen reference; I think there was an article saying that the whole task force was wiped out.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskiy has survived three assassination attempts in the past week. That reports the British newspaper The Times. First, the mercenaries of the infamous Wagner Group would have targeted Zelenskiy, then he came into the crosshairs of a Chechen assassination squad. However, the plans would always have been foiled with the help of agents of the Russian FSB who do not agree with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
President Volodimir Zelenskiy.
Mercenaries from the notorious Wagner Group and special forces from Chechnya are said to have been sent to Ukraine last week to kill Zelenskiy. However, the assassination plans were foiled by members of the Russian secret service FSB who are against the invasion of Ukraine, according to The Times. Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine's national security council, confirmed in local media the existence of the three assassination plans, and also said that he had received information about them from "double agents in the FSB who do not want to be part of this bloody war."
The Wagner Group — basically an entire army that can be hired — is run by oligarch Yevgeni Prigozhin, a close ally of the Russian president nicknamed "Putin's cook." According to The Times, the company would have 400 mercenaries in Kiev, who would have infiltrated the city as civilians at the start of the Russian invasion. The mercenaries would have received a death list with 24 names on it: in addition to Zelenskiy, there would also be the Klitchko brothers, the former top boxers of whom Vitali is mayor of Kiev these days. Because the Wagner Group officially has no ties to the Russian government, President Putin could then deny a possible assassination.
Plans foiled
Unconfirmed reports about the danger posed by the assassination squads have been circulating for several days. The mercenaries would follow Zelenskiy and their other targets through their mobile phones, so they always knew where they were. They would have waited for the green light from the Kremlin immediately after the raid to finish their death list, but that was foiled on Saturday morning. The Ukrainian government then announced a 36-hour curfew, allowing Ukrainian soldiers to search the streets of the capital in search of the mercenaries.
On Tuesday, a Chechen assassination squad would have wanted to carry out a double attack on Zelenskiy. They were part of the Russian National Guard, and are known for their cruel tactics. Those plans were also foiled, although it is not clear how.
The assassination plans do not seem to upset President Zelenskiy: he already said at a press conference that he was "target number one" of the Russians, but after an American offer to be evacuated, he let it be known that he "does not need a lift, but ammunition."
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