[1] Coming to office promising to resolve the war with separatists in Donbas and attempting to patch up relations with neighbouring Russia, Zelenskyy later began to take a harder line with pro-Russian political factions in Ukraine.
[2] Beginning in April 2021, Russia began amassing troops and equipment near the Ukrainian border, stoking fears of a Russian invasion.
[1] An advisor close to Zelenskyy said that during the preceding weeks, Ukraine had received intelligence from the U.S. that indicated that there would be an "internal destabilisation effort" in which Ukrainian oligarchs would possibly be involved.
[9] Akhmetov responded to the allegations by stating: "The information made public by Volodymyr Zelenskiy about attempts to draw me into some kind of coup is an absolute lie.
[6] On the day that Zelensky outlined the allegations of the coup plot, Ukraine's sovereign dollar bonds fell to their lowest level in over a year, and the cost of insuring Ukrainian debt soared.
[11] According to U.S. intelligence findings shared with the press, Russia had drawn up "formalised" hit lists prior to its 2022 invasion of Ukraine to facilitate a campaign to either arrest or assassinate individuals in an effort to root out possible future opposition to occupation authorities, apparently targeting "anyone who could challenge the Russian agenda".