Budanov: There were "unsuccessful" assassination attempts against Putin
Attempts against Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Russian President Putin: Concrete Reports of Multiple Attempted Attacks
According to reports, there have been multiple attempts against the life of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukrainian Security Service Chief Kyrylo Budanow stated that there have also been attempts against Russian President Vladimir Putin. "But as you can see, they were unsuccessful," Budanow told an interviewer for the Ukrainian portal "New Voice." The general did not provide any evidence to support his claim. He also did not mention that his service or other Kiev intelligence services could be involved in such plans.
Budanow is known for provocations that are part of his psychological warfare. The Kremlin responded to the statement: Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov clarified that adequate security measures would be taken for Putin's safety. "The threat from the Kiev regime is obvious," Peskov said in Moscow to the state news agency Tass.
Comparison with Stalin
Budanow fueled the fire further with the statement that Putin is no longer the compromise figure recognized by all in the Russian elite. However, since he has been in power for more than 20 years, the Russians are afraid to lose him. Therefore, Budanow expects something similar to what happened after Stalin's death in 1953. For people in the Soviet Union at that time, "their whole world had collapsed, they didn't know how to continue living," said the head of the Military Intelligence. There is little known about attempted attacks on Putin during his long tenure as Kremlin chief. Budanow claimed in May 2022, just a few days after Putin ordered the offensive war against Ukraine, that an attack by men from the Caucasus had failed. There was no evidence for this.
Not only Moscow, but also Kiev seems to be constantly on alert for attacks: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once said in an interview that he had stopped counting the number of assassination plans against him. Immediately after the Russian invasion in February 2022, Russian special forces hunted for him in Kiev. Most recently, in May of this year, the leadership of his personal security was reorganized. There were reportedly two officers from Moscow hired for attacks on Zelenskyy, Budanow, and other Ukrainian officials.
- Dmitri Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, assured that appropriate security measures will be implemented to protect President Vladimir Putin, following the disclosure of alleged attempts against his life by Ukrainian Security Service Chief Kyrylo Budanow.
- Amidst the ongoing political tensions, there have been persistent reports of attempts by Russia's intelligence services to orchestrate attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, echoing the fears of multiple failed attempts against President Putin throughout his tenure.
- In the context of politics and international relations, experts have drawn parallels between the current environment and the period following Stalin's death in 1953, with Ukrainian Security Service Chief Budanow suggesting that the Russian elite and the populace might experience a similar sense of instability and uncertainty.
