Ukraine’s intelligence agency recently arrested two colonels of the “National Defense Service” (UDO) responsible for protecting the president on suspicion of involvement in an assassination plot against the President Zelensky and other senior officials. According to a brief official announcement, Zelensky has dismissed the UDO director.
CNN and the BBC reported that an order published on the website of the Presidential Palace of Ukraine on the 9th stated that the Director of UDO Major General Serhii Rud was dismissed, but the reason was not given passed and a replacement has not yet been announced.
The mission of UDO is to ensure the safety of the President of Ukraine and top state officials, as well as the protection of administrative buildings. However, after it was reported earlier this week that two security officers had been detained on suspicion of participating in a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced on the 7th that two UDO colonels were charged with “terrorist acts against Ukraine” “Acts in exchange for financial rewards”, both were charged with treason, and one was also charged with preparing for a terrorist attack.
According to the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), they have “discovered” a plot to assassinate Zelensky and other top officials, including the head of the SBU Vasyl Maliuk, and the head of the General Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defense (GUR) her husband Budano. Ukrainian prosecutors said one of the suspects obtained two drones and weapons from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and planned to transfer them to another sponsor.
According to the official Ukrainian media Ukrinform, Rudd has been in charge of the presidential guard since 2019. Although there is no indication that he was in any way connected to the assassination allegations, it is believe that one of the colonels who was arrested, Andriy Huk, is a personal friend of Rudd. Ukrainian media pointed out that Rude and Hook attended Border Force Officer School together many years ago.
Ukrainian President Zelensky and European Parliament Speaker Metsola (not pictured) held a press conference in Kiev on the 9th. But Xin…
The BBC and the Ukrainian Independent reported that President Zelensky frequently changes key figures in the Ukrainian security forces On the 9th, he also issued an order for Special Forces Commander Col. Serhiy Lupanchuk was transferred from his current position after only a few months in office as the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Zaluzny, “released from the army for health reasons” the day before, to retain “the right to wear military uniform” and appointed ambassador to the UK.
#######test#########
Ukraine Russia Russia-Ukraine Zelensky War
Additional reading
#colonels #National #Security #Service #Ukraine #dismissed #suspected #involvement #Russian #plot #assassinate #Zelenskiy
2024-05-10 12:01:28