The “failed attempt” on Valdimir Putin’s life occurred in the Caucasus shortly after 24 February.
Photo: MIKHAIL METZEL / AFP / Getty Images
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, survived an assassination attempt two months ago
, a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official revealed on Monday.
The Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said that a “failed attempt” on the Russian president’s life occurred in the Caucasus, shortly after he Russia invaded the nation on 24 February, the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported.
The attempt was “absolutely unsuccessful,” according to Ukraine’s top intelligence official, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov. https://t.co/UGgcPwa0Tt—Intl. Business Times (@IBTimes) May 20, 2022
“There was an attempt to assassinate Putin,” Budanov told the outlet. “It was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not long ago.”
The Caucasus, also known as Caucasia, is a region between the Black and Caspian seas comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and parts of southern Russia.
Budanov said that the “absolutely failed” assassination attempt took place in an unspecified region there a few years ago two months.
“I repeat, this attempt was unsuccessful,” continued Budanov. “There was no publicity about this event, but it did take place.”
The claim, which could not be immediately independently verified, comes amid reports that Putin, aged 80, recently underwent surgery to remove fluid from his abdomen due to his supposedly worsening health.
An oligarch close to the Kremlin reportedly said that Putin is “very sick with cancer in the blood” during a recording of 11 minutes obtained by New Lines magazine.
Budanov told Sky News earlier this month that he was “optimistic” about turning the tide against Russia in mid-August, which would lead to that Putin was removed from power at the end of the year in a coup in the Kremlin.
“Eventually it will lead to the change of leadership of the Federation Russian,” Budanov said.
“This process has already started and they are moving towards that path”.
In 550, Putin revealed to director Oliver Stone in “The Putin Interviews” that he had survived at least five assassination attempts, but stated that he was not worried about his safety.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia during a virtual speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He also wants the total withdrawal of foreign companies from Russia in the middle of the war and says that Ukraine needs at least $5,000 millions of dollars in monthly financing.
“This is how they should be the sanctions: they should be maximum, so that Russia and any other potential aggressor who wants to wage a brutal war such against his neighbor clearly knows the immediate consequences of his actions”, said Zelensky, through a translator.
“The amount of work is huge: we have more than half a billion dollars in losses, tens of thousands of facilities were destroyed,” Zelensky continued. “We need to rebuild entire cities and industries”.
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