Assassination attempt ordered by Putin on Prez Zelenskyy foiled after tipoff: Ukraine govt

As Russia's attack on Ukraine continues for the ninth consecutive day, Ukraine officials claim that an assassination attempt of President Zelenskyy was foiled during the weekend. As per a Washington Post report, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said that officials were recently tipped off that a unit of Kadyrovites, elite Chechen special forces, was on its way to kill Zelensky. Russia has taken over Kherson and inch closer to Kyiv - where Zelensky stands determined. 

Assassination attempt on Zelenskyy foiled

On Tuesday, Danilov said, "We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president. And I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war. And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president,” during a broadcast marathon airing on Ukrainian TV channels.

After Ukrainian officials were informed by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the Chechen special forces were killed Saturday on the outskirts of Kyiv, Danilov said. Moreover, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has confirmed that two servicemen had died and six others were injured, but neither the Chechens nor Kremlin has publicly responded to the assassination claim. According to the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, Putin instructed Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, last month to carry out the assassination, states Washington Post.

Attack on Zaporizhzhia power plant

In the early hours of Friday, a heavy gun battle and firing began at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, informed Mayor of Energodar Dmytro Orlov. Due to heavy shelling by Russian Army, a fire broke out at the training building outside the NPP which was extinguished by 6:20 AM (Ukraine Time). ZNPP stated that unit 1 reactor compartment auxiliary buildings have been damaged, but no changes in the radiation situation have been registered. Currently, the site of the Zaporizhzhia NPP is occupied by Russian troops.

Russia invades Ukraine

For weeks, Moscow massed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine's borders in a bid to pressurise Western nations to not allow Ukraine to join NATO, threatening an invasion. Last week, Putin ordered a special military operation in Ukraine's Donbas region, which quickly accelerated into precision airstrikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, deployed tanks towards Lviv from the Belarus-Ukraine border. A military faceoff is underway between Russian and Ukrainian Armies in Sumy, Poltava, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kherson including heavy air attacks, missiles from sea, air and land. Over 1 million Ukrainians have fled and many are housed in bomb shelters. Foreign nationals including Indians are being evacuated via Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Romania by Centre. As of date, Ukraine has lost 352 civilians including 14 children in the war against Russia.