Ukrainian state security said earlier this week it unearthed an assassination plot involving two state guards.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the head of the state guard following accusations that two members were involved in a plot to assassinate the embattled Ukrainian head of state.
Zelenskyy fired former state guard leader Serhiy Rud on Thursday, after the state security service (SBU) said earlier this week that it had uncovered an assassination plot against Zelenskyy and other top officials. He has not yet named a successor to Rud.
The SBU said the killings were intended as a “gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was sworn in for a new term on Tuesday.
The SBU said the two men, both state guard colonels, had planned to take Zelenskyy hostage and then kill him.
Other key officials, including SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, head of the military intelligence agency, were also said to be targets of the failed effort.
Moscow has not commented on the SBU accusations, which alleged that the two bodyguards had passed sensitive information to the FSB, Russia's security service.
It is not the first assassination attempt faced by the Ukrainian leader, who claimed last year that at least five Russian plots have been foiled since the war began.
Zelenskyy's administration has faced increasing difficulties in recent months and has reshuffled some key staff positions as progress in the country's war against Russia stalls and officials face corruption allegations.
In February, Zelenskyy appointed Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after removing General Valerii Zaluzhny from office.
