Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reportedly survived at least three assassination attempts this past week.
It is thought the attempts were headed by Chechen special forces, known as Kadyrovites and private militia organisation The Wagner Group.
Under fierce pressure from the Kremlin to decapitate Zelenkyy and his government allies, one assassination attempt was made on Saturday by Chechen operatives on the outskirts of Kyiv, but it is reported the agents were “eliminated”.
This was thanks to tip-offs from agents within the Russian Security Services (FSB) who oppose the invasion, reports The Times.
According to Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, they have been warning the Ukrainian authorities of any plots.
President Zelenskyy on Russia's nuclear power station attack
Danilov said: “I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who 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.”
Following Vladimir Putin’s invasion, 44-year-old Zelenskyy admitted he was "target number one" in an address to the nation earlier last week.
It is thought The Wagner Group have 400 mercenaries tasked with assassinating the president.
Unaware of Chechen forces, they have been carrying out their own attempts to decapitate the government, but it is now thought they have now been given instructions to halt any missions and wait for a secure corridor to be built out of Kyiv. This that would provide them with an easy escape after their mission was complete.
At the start of the invasion, the US and UK offered Zelenskyy assistance with the extraction of him and his government from. The Ukrainian president declined the offer saying: "The fight is here, I need ammunition, not a ride."
Zelenskyy has since been placed at the centre of Ukraine’s resistance to Putin’s invasion, becoming a war-time hero and the world seems to be rallying behind him.
In the past few days, fighting has intensified and Russian forces have continued to advance, launching multiple rocket strikes on some of Ukraine's largest cities killing many civillians.
More than one million people have had to flee Ukraine since the invasion began last week.
This morning, in an unprecedented attack, Russian forces heavily shelled a nuclear plant in Ukraine - the largest in Europe.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the move was "reckless" attack could "directly threaten the safety of all of Europe".
