The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it has thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior Ukrainian officials.
Two colonels from the Ukrainian government protection forces have been arrested.
The SBU said they were part of a network of operatives belonging to Russia's State Security Service (FSB).
They were reportedly looking for “enforcers” among Mr Zelensky's bodyguards who were willing to kidnap and kill him.
Other targets included military intelligence chief Kirillo Budanov and SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk, the agency added.
The group reportedly planned to kill Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, before this year's Orthodox Easter holiday (May 5).
The SBU said the group used moles to obtain information on his location and planned to attack him with rockets and drones.
According to the SBU, one of the officers who was later arrested had already purchased a drone and an anti-personnel mine.
SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk said the attack was supposed to be a “gift to Putin before his inauguration.” President Vladimir Putin was sworn in as President of Russia on Tuesday.
Maryuk said the operation was a failure for Russian special forces.
“But remember, the enemy is powerful and experienced and cannot be underestimated,” he added.
Two Ukrainian officials are being held on charges of treason and preparing terrorist acts.
The SBU said three FSB officers supervised the organization and the attack.
One of them, named Dmytro Palin, was recruiting “mole” even before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Another FSB official, Oleksiy Kornev, reportedly held “collusive” meetings in “nearby European countries” with one of the Ukrainian colonels arrested today before the invasion.