Ukraine Security Service Foils Russia's Assassination Attempt On Defense Minister, Intelligence Chief

Ukraine's security service on Monday said they have successfully foiled a Russian assassination attempt on two Ukrainian defense officials.

In a report by the Headquarters of the National Police in Kyiv, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said Russian "curators" offered a reward of $100,000 to $150,000 for the assassination of the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate Kyrylo Budanov.

The SSU also said that the Russians were planning to assassinate other Ukrainian targets, such as a well-known Ukrainian activist and the leader of the National Corps Party. No information about the identity of the targets was given.

"The Security Service has prevented a series of contract murders of representatives of Ukraine's top military and political leadership and public figures," the report read, as translated by Ukrainska Pravda. "The perpetrators were preparing to kill the Minister of Defense [of Ukraine] and the head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate [of Ukraine], as well as a well-known Ukrainian activist."

An investigation by the SSU found that the assassinations were being planned by a resident of the temporarily occupied region of Luhansk. While the identity of the resident was not disclosed, Ukrainian officials said the culprit had been a member of a "people's militia" in Luhansk since 2014 and has actively participated in hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

The SSU also said the Russian "curators" arranged a test by assigning the man to arrange the killing of a Ukrainian citizen who had been leading a military unit fighting against Moscow's troops in the war. The resident then engaged a Ukrainian citizen living in Kyiv to carry out the assignment.

Both the culprit and the Ukrainian citizen who agreed to help him assassinate his targets have been detained in Volyn Oblast by officers from the SSU and the Special Operations Center "A."

Ukrainian law enforcement officers are now working to issue the culprits with notices of suspicion of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - treason, and Part 1 of Art. 14, p. 11, part 2, art. 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – preparation for the commission of an intentional murder committed to order.