Three Attempted Hits
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Volodymyr Zelensky Survives Three Assassination Attempts in One Week
By Gerrard Kaonga On 3/4/22 at 6:58 AM EST
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has survived three assassination attempts in one week after his security team was warned ahead of time about the danger to his life.Zelensky has been able to avoid these attacks thanks to the cooperation of anti-war intelligence officers in Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) who tipped off the Ukrainian forces, according to reports.
The head of Ukraine's National Security Council, Oleksiy Danilov, told local media that Zelensky had survived three assassination attempts, according to a Mail Online article.
Earlier this week, Danilov confirmed that attempts on the President's life had been thwarted and identified the groups responsible on social media platform Telegram. He said two groups of assassins from Chechnya had been involved in the plot.
"We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president," Danilov said.
This was in reference to the fighters from the Caucasus Russian republic whose leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, pledges unwavering loyalty to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kadyrov is the authoritarian ruler of Chechnya and has been accused by human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, of using torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings to maintain power.
Danilov added: "And I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war," according to an i report
"Thanks to this, I can say that Kadyrov's elite group was destroyed directly, which came here to eliminate our president."
Despite the attempts on his life, Zelensky sent a message to Putin on Thursday calling for face-to-face negotiations with the Russian President.
"Good Lord, what do you want, Leave our land. If you don't want to leave now, sit down with me at the negotiating table," Zelensky said during a televised news conference, according to a translation from journalist Max Seddon.
"But not from 30 meters away, like with Macron and Scholz. I don't bite. What are you afraid of? Any words are more important than shots," he said according to the Associated Press.
However, several assassination attempts were foiled after Ukrainian security officials were tipped off by people working for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) who opposed the invasion, The Times said.
An assassination attempt by a group of Chechen assassins on the outskirts of Kyiv was foiled on Saturday, with the agents "eliminated" before they could reach Zelensky, The Times reported.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, gave a similar report on Telegram earlier this week.
"I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who do not want to take part in this bloody war," he said.
"And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president."
Around 400 Wagner mercenaries were dispatched to Kyiv and offered a financial bonus by the Kremlin for assassinating more than 20 notable Ukrainians, including Zelensky, The Times reported Monday.
A source close to the Wagner Group told The Times that it was "eerie" how much Zelensky's security team knew about their foiled hit.
The nature of that assassination attempt is not known, but the mercenaries are expected to launch another attempt before the weekend, The Times said.
Sources in the FSB?
Well...
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@Jolly said in Three Attempted Hits:
Well, they won't be sources long...
What possible good comes of broadcasting any of this? It should all be top secret.
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@Jolly said in Three Attempted Hits:
Propaganda.
But you're burning your sources (if what they said was true).
Propaganda is supposed to help your efforts, not hinder them. Didn’t they get the memo?
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You guys really believe this? Personally, I think Ukraine is just piling BS on top of BS in trying to win the hearts and minds of the west and to inflate the confidence of their people while demoralizing their opponents. It’s working, but most of it’s BS.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Three Attempted Hits:
You guys really believe this? Personally, I think Ukraine is just piling BS on top of BS in trying to win the hearts and minds of the west and to inflate the confidence of their people while demoralizing their opponents. It’s working, but most of it’s BS.
"The first casualty of war..."
But you may well be right.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Three Attempted Hits:
You guys really believe this? Personally, I think Ukraine is just piling BS on top of BS in trying to win the hearts and minds of the west and to inflate the confidence of their people while demoralizing their opponents. It’s working, but most of it’s BS.
Note the caveat.
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Look at The Ghost of Kyiv thing. An urban legend starts based on an edited video game clip, then the Ukrainian government jumps in and starts feeding the flames so to speak with a picture that was from 6 years ago and then other photos that didn’t pass the sniff test…
I’m not saying they aren’t doing an admirable job in defense and I’m not saying he didn’t face assassination attempts, but I do think things are beyond a mild exaggeration…
For now the world wants to believe it. I know hard core leftists that want to ban all guns in the US cheering the Ukrainians for handing out AK-47’s… but I do wonder if there will be repercussions when everyone finds out they were manipulated?
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@George-K said in Three Attempted Hits:
@LuFins-Dad said in Three Attempted Hits:
You guys really believe this? Personally, I think Ukraine is just piling BS on top of BS in trying to win the hearts and minds of the west and to inflate the confidence of their people while demoralizing their opponents. It’s working, but most of it’s BS.
"The first casualty of war..."
But you may well be right.
I would agree as well. Yesterday I received an email with a 20 minute link of a taped statement of three alleged captured OMON (special security police) . The lead spokesman identified himself as a Colonel and the other two, who had obviously been beat up, were just troopers. The troopers talked like troopers and couldn’t say much other than name, rank serial number unit and the circumstances of their capture. The colonel on the other hand was neatly dressed, hair in order and launched into a long winded diatribe of how unjust the war is, Russians should lay down their arms and go home and the like. Didn’t talk like a senior officer in any known security police service I’m aware.
Didn’t pass the smell test for me, the troopers may have been real, but the officer wasn’t. If he were real, his presence and statements would have been a death sentence for any living family members he may have back in Russia.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Three Attempted Hits:
Look at The Ghost of Kyiv thing. An urban legend starts based on an edited video game clip, then the Ukrainian government jumps in and starts feeding the flames so to speak with a picture that was from 6 years ago and then other photos that didn’t pass the sniff test…
I actually play that game - there was a bit of discussion on the DCS World forums about him
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@Horace said in Three Attempted Hits:
Would it actually serve Russia's interest in this conflict to be seen as having assassinated Zelensky?
If he could credit Ukrainian citizens who were “fed up with the war” or something.
Also, if you’re Putin and you need to decide whether to make him a martyr or let him live as a potential future rallying point, neither option probably seems good.