FLASH
Shkruar nga Maxim Tucker
After being arrested, the colonels provided new information about an earlier attempt by the Russians to take Zelensky hostage early in the war.
The assassin was already in position when he was informed of his target. It was May 4, 5 days before Russia celebrated its national victory day in World War II, when he set up a drone control center in a basement in the Kiev region. Only on one occasion was he put on alert, when his superior told him the target.
"When you see a convoy with a black Toyota Land Cruiser and a black minibus arriving, send me its coordinates," said one of his orders. The description matched Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the new commander of Ukraine's secret military service, HUR, which has organized and overseen attacks on and against senior Russian commanders, propagandists and collaborators both inside Russia and on occupied Ukrainian territory. The plan was to kill him in a coordinated attack with missiles and drones.
"The Russians planned to launch a ballistic missile at those coordinates while the drone operator was in his shelter. And after that moment he had to launch his drone, film the aftermath of the attack for his handlers, and finally crash his grenade-laden drone into anyone who might have survived or was going to help." says a senior Ukrainian counterintelligence officer in an exclusive interview, describing for the first time details of the plot and how they foiled it.
Speaking on condition of anonymity from the basement of a Soviet-era neoclassical building, once the headquarters of the KGB, a senior member of Ukraine's state security service, the SBU, tells how President Putin's spies infiltrated the top levels of President Zelensky's security, in an attempt to decapitate the Kiev leadership.
Twenty minutes later, the Russians would launch a second ballistic missile in a "dual" attack designed to knock out emergency services and cover up evidence of the drone strike, he added. But for months the SBU had kept the architects of this murderous plan under surveillance.
It was about 2 colonels of the state defense department, in charge of protecting high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including President Zelensky. They had also intercepted a third person, whom they suspected of collaborating with the Federal Security Service (FSB).
This was also the unidentified killer. They knew that the trio were plotting to kill Budanov, and that they were tracking Lieutenant General Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the SBU, as well as President Zelensky himself, the senior officer confessed. The suspects had stockpiled rockets, a MON-90 anti-personnel mine and kamikaze drones.
The first suspect, identified by a law enforcement source as Colonel Andrey Huk, is accused of having worked for the FSB since 2014. He also allegedly recruited the second man, Colonel Oleksandr Derkach, and transmitted to the group the orders of the FSB. Communications between the assassin and his leaders were intercepted by the SBU using powerful surveillance technology.
Maliuk immediately notified Budanov. A response team swooped on the assassin while the SBU prepared a swift operation to neutralize his suspected accomplices.
"Our intention was to carry out a simultaneous arrest, so that they could not inform each other, so they could not escape", the officer confesses.
One of the colonels was in his apartment in Kiev, while the other was visiting friends in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine. Both were armed. To avoid a dangerous gunfight, the SBU lured them out through a surprise call to work.
A special operations and rapid reaction force, dressed as ordinary policemen patrolling the streets, was stationed at the checkpoints through which the 2 soldiers would pass. In wartime Ukraine, checkpoints are commonplace, and a stop there would not necessarily raise suspicion.
The first man was easily arrested. The second did not park, continued to drive his car, lowered the window and showed his official identification card. "We chose a big, physically fit guy wearing a police uniform to make the arrest. He pretended not to see the ID and moved closer to the car. Then with one hand he reached inside the glass and opened the door, while with the other he grabbed the soldier's head. It was very important that he be neutralized immediately, as he had weapons in the car," he says.
Other SBU officers swarmed to stop the car and forced the man out of his vehicle, completing the arrest. Special teams then raided the apartments of the two men. There they found explosives and drone components hidden inside spare tires, as well as a cache with a secret phone, the counterintelligence official said.
During interrogation, both men confessed the whole plot. The secret phone included communications identifying the vehicles and routes used by Zelensky and Maliuk, possibly in anticipation of a similar hit, as well as communications about their movements.
Pasi u arrestuan, kolonelët ofruan informacione të reja në lidhje me një përpjekje të mëparshme të rusëve për të marrë peng Zelensky që në fillim të luftës. “Në shkurtin e vitit 2022, agjentit nr.1 iu dha detyra për të identifikuar oficerët e tjerë të mbrojtjes shtetërore, besnikë ndaj Rusisë, për të vrarë ata që ishin besnikë ndaj Ukrainës dhe marrë peng presidentin. Më pas do ta detyronin Zelenskyn të bënte një deklaratë video, ku do të shpallte kapitullimin, duke i thënë popullit se nuk kishte arsye për të luftuar. Nëse nuk pranonte do të vritej”, rrëfen ai.
Gjatë ditëve të para kaotike të pushtimit, koloneli i parë kishte shkuar aq larg sa kishte mbledhur truproja të tjerë presidencialë, të cilëve u sugjeroi të hidhnin armët kur të mbërrinin rusët. “Ai u tha atyre: Ne nuk jemi forcat e armatosura. S’kemi një detyrë të veçantë për të mbrojtur Ukrainën, dhe unë nuk jam paguar mjaftueshëm për të organizuar këtu Kalanë e Brestit”. Mbrojtja në vitin 1941 e Kalasë së Brestit nga Ushtria e Kuqe përballë një sulmi të befasishëm nga nazistët, çoi në vdekjen e më shumë se 2,000 ushtarëve të Bashkimit Sovjetik, dhe kapjen rob të 7.000 të tjerëve. Në atë kohë, kolegët e tij i cilësuan komentet e tij si një reagim emocional ndaj pushtimit duke i injoruar ato.
Duke qenë se ishte oficer i lartë, ata nuk e kishin sfiduar. Pas arrestimit të tij, kur e kuptuan se ai po vepronte me urdhër të FSB-së, u tronditën. Familja e Huk, e cila kishte ikur në Evropë dhe shumë fort pro-ukrainase, u shokua nga arrestimi i tij. “Ai po i gënjente që të gjithë. Gruaja e tij mendonte se ai po mbronte vendin e tij. Fëmijët e tij mendonin se babai i tyre ishte një hero i vendit”, shtoi oficeri.
Megjithatë, ai kishte lindur në Rusi, çka përbën një shpjegim të mundshëm për tradhtinë e tij të dyshuar. Në një video të marrjes në pyetje të tij të publikuar nga SBU, ai deklaron se kishte marrë 3.000 dollarë në muaj nga FSB-ja ruse, dhe 1.000 dollarë të tjera shtesë për të kryer udhëtime për të përmbushur porositë e tyre.
Ndërkohë Derkach, kishte marrë pjesë në komplot thjesht për paratë, duke shpresuar se Huk do ta ndihmonte për një karrierë më të mirë. Këshilltari i Zelenksy-t, Mykhailo Podolyak, thotë se ka pasur “një duzinë” komplotesh kundër jetës së presidentit. Megjithatë, depërtimi shumë pranë tij, duket të jetë përpjekja më e avancuar e FSB-së.
Përpjekja për të vrarë Budanov tregon një ndryshim të madh në rolin e agjencisë në luftën kundër Ukrainës dhe aleatëve të saj, nga mbledhja e inteligjencës tek sabotimet dhe atentatet, një rol i dominuar dikur nga shërbimi i inteligjencës ushtarake ruse, GRU.
The architect of the FSB's aggressive new strategy is believed to be the agency's deputy director, Sergei Korolev, a Putin favorite who is reported to have deep ties to the Russian mafia. A dossier on him, in the newspaper's possession, compiled by Ukraine's military intelligence arm, HUR, describes him as "Putin's wolf", tasked with gathering information on other members of the Russian government and rooting out rivals. possible that the Russian leader wants to be removed by legal means.
The file also says that he is an enigmatic character, around 60 years old, born in Kyrgyzstan and who prefers to work in the shadows. HUR accuses him of orchestrating the latest plot as a gift to Putin ahead of the May 9 celebrations. The SBU said the assassination attempt was personally approved and coordinated by FSB director Alexander Bortnikov.
"Terrorist attacks, sabotage and assassinations, in an attempt to create a pro-Russian resistance movement," says the counterintelligence officer, noting that the SBU has so far unmasked about 2,500 Russian agents in Ukraine. "In fact, today in Ukraine there is no pro-Russian movement. The Russian intelligence services are very powerful, but so far the SBU has managed to defeat them", he says. / Adapted from: "Pamphlet" , From: "Sunday Times"
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