The deputy chief of Ukraine’s intelligence service has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is on the country’s hit list. Vadim Skibitsky also stated that his subordinates are on the lookout for top Russian military officers.
Skibitsky was asked by the German newspaper Die Welt on Wednesday whether his service is attempting to assassinate Russia’s president. According to the Ukrainian source, President Putin “notices that we’re getting ever closer to him.”
Skibitsky claims that the Ukrainian intelligence service has failed to assassinate Putin because he “stays holed up,” but he adds that the Russian commander-in-chief “is now beginning to stick his head out.”
When he does appear in public, the intelligence service is “not sure whether it’s really him,” according to Skibitsky.
He went on to say that his employees were “trying to kill” Yevgeny Prighozhin, the head of the Wagner private military firm.
The Ukrainian intelligence organization, according to its deputy leader, has also targeted Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and leader of General Staff Valery Gerasimov for elimination.
When questioned if Kiev was behind the assassinations of journalist and activist Darya Dugina in August, military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in late April, and writer Zakhar Prilepin earlier this month, Skibitsky said that they were “inside jobs.”
The Ukrainian official also claimed that numerous factions among Russia’s elite were vying for control.
Skibitsky went on to say that Russian “propagandists” are not his top priority targets, as opposed to Russian military unit leaders. He stated that Kiev had assassinated some of the top brass, but he would to provide any names or numbers.
