Russian spy detained in failed Zelensky assassination plot

A female Russian “spy” has been detained after allegedly leaking information to the enemy as part of a plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky during his recent trip to the Mokylaiv region, Ukraine’s security service said.

The Security Service of Ukraine, known as SBU, said in a statement Monday that the suspect, who was not publicly identified, “was collecting data for an airstrike during Zelensky’s visit.”

The collaborator tried to establish the route of Zelensky’s motorcade, times and locations on his itinerary during his visit to the region in late July, during which the president met with wounded soldiers recovering in local hospitals and handed out state awards to doctors.

The woman — labeled a “traitor” by the SBU — was allegedly caught “red-handed” on the eve of Zelensky’s trip when she tried to pass the information to the Russians, the statement said.

The security service in Mykolaiv was “proactive” and “additional security measures were taken during the visit.”

The SBU said that it continued to document the accused spy’s actions to learn more about her alleged Russian handlers and the assignments received from them.

The woman had been instructed to identify the location of the Ukrainian military’s “electronic warfare systems” and ammunition depots near Ochakiv, which the SBU claimed the enemy was planning to use to launch a massive airstrike on the region.

As part of her intelligence-gathering operation, the suspect drove to the targeted area and took photos and video of Ukrainian facilities, according to security officials.

The woman also allegedly tried to pump her acquaintances in town for information, hoping that they would “unwittingly” divulge it to her.

The SBU released a photo of the woman with her face blurred, flanked by two security officials at the time of her arrest, along with screenshots of her online exchanges with her alleged Russian handlers and handwritten notes mentioning barracks and a medical unit.

One of the redacted conversations shows the woman telling someone that Zelensky was planning to visit a hospital in town.

Her interlocutor inquires which hospital, and when.

The accused collaborator volunteers to drive to the hospital to see if she could find out more details about the president’s upcoming trip.

“It would be desirable to take photos,” the alleged Russian intelligence officer writes back. “If you’re going to be nearby — that would be very timely. I doubt that photographing a hospital would raise much suspicion.”

The accused mole, identified only as a resident of the city of Ochakiv who previously worked as a sales clerk at a local military shop, is now facing a charge of unauthorized dissemination of information related to the military, which carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.

Zelensky has been a prime target for the Kremlin since invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but that has not stopped him from traveling all over the country, including war-ravaged towns on the front lines.

In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett last month, Zelensky said he was not bothered by the threats on his life.

“If I were thinking about it constantly I would just shut myself down, very much like [Vladimir] Putin now who doesn’t leave his bunker,” Zelensky said. “You can put yourself in a cage like an animal and chain yourself there, constantly thinking that you are just about to get killed.”

He added that he has bodyguards whose job it is to prevent attempts on his life, “and this is their task. I don’t think about it,” he said.