Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that he has survived multiple Russian assassination attempts on his life and that there is an ongoing Kremlin plot to take him out before the end of the year.
Speaking with Britain’s largest circulation newspaper, The Sun, Zelensky said that there have been at least “five or six” assassination plots against him by Moscow since the Russian invasion of his country last year that have been foiled by Ukrainian intelligence services.
“The first one is very interesting, when it is the first time, and after that it is just like Covid. First of all people don’t know what to do with it and it’s looking very scary. And then after that, it is just intelligence sharing with you detail that one more group came to Ukraine to [attempt] this,” he told the paper.
Zelensky went on to assert that Russia still “wants very much” to remove him from office, claiming to even know the codename of an ongoing operation to either oust or kill him before the end of the year.
“The name of operation is Maidan 3. It is meant to change the president. It’s bye bye. Maybe it’s not by killing. I mean it’s changing. They will use any instruments they have.
“So that’s the idea, to the end of the year. They have even named the operation. But you see we can live with it.”
When pressed on whether he would confirm Ukrainian involvement in assassinations of those tied to Kremlin, Zelensky said that his government is “not discussing” such issues. However, responding to whether his forces would assassinate Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he bluntly stated: “That’s war, and Ukraine has all the rights to defend our land.”
Turning to the state of the war against Russia, Zelensky shot down claims that morale is waning amid Ukraine’s failed efforts to repel Putin’s forces from its territory.
“If you ask them are you willing to give up to Russia, our lands? Are you ready to talk to Russians on how to end all this? Are you ready for compromise, personally, with Putin and are you tired of this? They will tell you we are not tired. We are ready to stand further,” he said.
Zelensky admitted that Kyiv needs “more successful results on the battlefield,” however, he rejected the analysis proffered by his top general that the conflict had devolved into a “stalemate“.
“In the morale, there is no stalemate. We are at our home. Russians are on our land. Therefore there is no stalemate in this.
“As regards the sky, there is no stalemate. Russians have more power in that. And really, how to move forward when you can’t control the sky?”
Zelensky has long lobbied Western powers to supply F-16 fighter jets under the presumption that superior air power could turn the tides of the war. While the Biden administration approved European allies to supply the American-made fighters to Ukraine, they have yet to appear in battle, with Ukrainian pilots still being trained on how to operate the warplanes.
The latest comments from Zelensky come amid growing concerns from his government that the war in his country has become overshadowed by the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Last week, Zelensky complained to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron that the world is “not focussed” on Ukraine anymore. This was followed by claims from the Ukrainian leader that deliveries of artillery shells from Western allies to Kyiv had “slowed down” following the outbreak of fighting in the Middle East.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.