Volodymyr Zelensky
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked the department chief in charge of his protection following the arrest of two of its officers this week over an alleged assassination plot.
Zelensky issued a proclamation to dismiss Sergiy Leonidovich Rud from the post of head of the State Protection Department of Ukraine.
It did not provide a rationale for Rud’s removal or name a replacement for the highly sensitive position.
The news came after Ukraine’s SBU security service revealed Tuesday that it had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky and other senior officials.
It stated that it had detained two colonels from the bodyguard department on suspicion of transferring classified information to Russia’s rival FSB security service.
One of them, it claimed, had personally provided rocket rounds, drones, and anti-personnel mines for an agent to carry out attacks.
Since 2019, Rud, 47, has led the department, which is in charge of the president’s, other senior officials, and their families’ protection.
