Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has taken swift action in response to recent security threats, firing the head of the country’s State Security Administration (UDO).
The dismissal of Serhii Rud from his position as director of the UDO, responsible for safeguarding Zelensky and other high-ranking officials, came just days after Ukrainian officials revealed a thwarted Russian plot to assassinate the president.
Zelensky’s office released a presidential decree announcing Rud’s dismissal, but did not provide specific reasons for the termination nor did they announce a replacement.
The decision follows revelations from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) earlier in the week, disclosing a foiled plan orchestrated by agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) to eliminate Zelensky and other senior Kyiv officials.
The SBU reported that two colonels from the UDO were detained in connection with the thwarted plot.
According to the SBU’s Telegram post, the scheme involved individuals within the Ukrainian military, tasked with Zelensky’s security, who were implicated in a plan to potentially take the president hostage and subsequently execute him.
In a separate incident last month, the SBU collaborated with Polish law enforcement to apprehend an individual in Warsaw suspected of aiding the FSB in planning Zelensky’s assassination during a visit to Poland.
The suspect, a Polish citizen, was charged with espionage for a foreign intelligence service.
The most recent foiled plot, as detailed by Kyiv’s security service, allegedly involved surveillance of Ukrainian officials protected by the UDO, providing intelligence to the enemy.
“Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the affected area with a drone. After that, the Russians planned to target with another missile, including to destroy traces of the use of the drone,” the SBU wrote in a Telegram post.
Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU, asserted that he personally oversaw the investigation into the plot and that it was meant as a “gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was inaugurated for a fifth term in office this week.
“The terrorist attack … was actually a failure of the Russian special services,” Malyuk said. “But we must not forget—the enemy is strong and experienced, he cannot be underestimated. We will continue to work ahead of time, so that every traitor receives the well-deserved court sentences.”
