Specially trained Russian elite death squads were sent to kill Ukraine President Zelensky. Ukraine says they “neutralized” that hit squads, protected Zelensky with leaked Russian intelligence.
Two elite Chechen death squads (from Chechnya Republic – a constituent republic of Russia) sent to kill Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky have been “neutralized” — thanks to intel from Russian security forces sympathetic to Ukraine, according to a senior Ukraine official.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Ukrainian TV Tuesday that sources inside Russia gave Kyiv the intelligence needed to track down the assassins, according to a report in The New Voice of Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops arrested a man who they suspect is a Russian agent in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022
“They were divided in two groups, we were tracking them,” said Danilov.
“One group was handled near Hostomel [northwest of Kyiv], the other one is in our sights.”
“We won’t give up our president, our country,” Danilov added. “This is our land, invaders should be gone.”
According to US intelligence, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 with a goal to “decapitate” the pro-Western Ukrainian government and install a regime friendly to Moscow.
Zelensky said he suspected to be targeted at the beginning of the war last week — he also told to European leaders in a video message: “This might be the last time you see me alive.”
It was not clear how many assassins were killed or captured by Ukrainian troops on Tuesday.
Chechen death squads
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechnya Republic and a Putin ally, confirmed the presence of Chechen fighters in Ukraine last week and urged Ukrainians to overthrow their government.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechnya Republic – a constituent republic of Russia
The Wagner Group
Ukraine is not the shadowy Wagner Group’s first involvement in conflicts.
The Chechens aren’t the only ones believed to be hunting Zelensky. Members of the Wagner Group — a ruthless Russian mercenary force alleged to have committed war crimes on the Kremlin’s behalf in Syria and the Central African Republic — are thought to be operating in Ukraine with orders to assassinate the president Zelensky.
