Putin told director Oliver Stone in 2017 that he has withstood five assassination plots since becoming Russia’s president. He might be able to add one more to that number as Putin survived yet another assassination attempt after the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
In a recent interview, Ukraine’s intelligence chief said that Russian President Vladimir Putin evaded a recent assassination effort that was not disclosed by the Kremlin.
The claim was made to Ukraine Pravda by Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, who provided minimal specifics. He claimed the incident occurred while Putin was in the Caucasus, just days after Ukraine was penetrated on February 24.
“There were attempts to kill Putin,” Budanov said. “There was an assassination attempt recently by, as they call it, representatives of the Caucasus. This was not in the public domain. A completely failed attempt but it really did happen about two months ago.”
“Once again, [the would-be assassin] was unsuccessful,” he added. “There is no publicity about this event, but it took place.”
Budanov’s claims have elicited no public response from the Kremlin.
Budanov did not provide any other information, and it was unclear whether he was alluding to the Caucasus region of Russia or the Caucasus region of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
Ukraine Pravda reports that an interview with Budanov will broadcast on Tuesday.
Budanov told Sky News earlier this month that he believes Russia will be rebuffed by mid-August, and that this will contribute to a shift in Russia’s leadership.
“It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation,” Budanov told the outlet. “This process has already been launched and they are moving into that way.”
Putin told director Oliver Stone in 2017 that he has withstood five assassination plots since becoming Russia’s president. The Russian president claimed at the time that he was not concerned about his wellbeing.
During a virtual meeting with allies on Monday geared at arranging weaponry for Kyiv, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed that about 20 nations have declared additional security support packages for Ukraine.
After a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Austin told reporters that Italy, Denmark, Greece, Norway, and Poland have declared new packages. According to Austin, Denmark will deploy a harpoon launcher and missiles to defend Ukraine’s coast.
“Everyone here understands the stakes of this war,” Austin remarked. General Mark Milley, the top US military leader, said at the same press conference that any deployment of US troops into Ukraine remained “a ways away.”
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