Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin
Claire Reid
Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt earlier this year, a Ukrainian intelligence officer has claimed.
Ukraine’s Chief of Defence Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov has said there had been an ‘unsuccessful attempt’ to kill the President a few months back.
Budanov told Ukrainian new outlet Pravda: "Putin was attacked…
"He was even attacked in the line of, as they say, representatives of the Caucasus not so long ago.
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"This is non-public information. Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really took place… It was about two months ago.
"Once again, he was unsuccessful. There is no publicity about this event, but it took place."
He gave no further details where it took place or the exact date - but if it was around two months ago it would make it the first known assassination attempt since Putin invaded Ukraine.
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Budanov claimed ‘representatives of the Caucasus’ were behind the attempt - a region that includes Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The intelligence officer did not directly link the invasion to the assassination attempt.
In 2017, Putin said there had been five unsuccessful attempts to take his life and credited his team of security staff with the fact he was alive.
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Speaking to filmmaker Oliver Stone in the documentary The Putin Interviews, he said: “I do my job and the security officers do theirs and they are still performing quite successfully.”
Putin is reported to employ and travel with his own sniper squad who are tasked with spotting any dangers and ‘taking them out’.
Over the years, Putin has survived several assassination attempts, including one in 2002 while he was on a state visit to Azerbaijan.
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While in the country, officers arrested a man after security forces discovered his plot to kill Putin.
According to reports at the time, the Iraqi national was set to deliver explosives alongside an accomplice. Both men were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Later the same year, it was reported that there had been a second assassination attempt on the Russian president after 40 kilos of explosives were found under a motorway he had been expected to drive along.
However, officials have refused to comment on this incident, so details on who was behind it and how it was thwarted have never been revealed.
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