Assassination attempts on Volodymyr Zelenskyy

[3] Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated that "Russia's key intention [was] to remove the country's top leadership, create maximum panic, and try to establish its own puppet government".

[7] More than one thousand fighters entered the Kyiv region for this purpose,[8] however the mission failed due to the Ukrainian government having prior intel regarding the plan, resulting in Redut losing up to 90% of their fighting force.

[10] In August 2023, it was reported that another alleged assassination attempt had been stopped after Ukraine's security service arrested a woman who was suspected of gathering information on Zelenskyy's trip to the Mykolaiv region.

[12] In May 2024, two Ukrainian colonels were arrested for treason in an alleged plot by the FSB to create a network of agents in an attempt to subdue those close to Zelenskyy and eventually take hostage and kill the President.

[16] During an interview with CBS News on 6 March 2022, U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken said that the Ukrainian government had prepared for the potential death of Zelenskyy in the invasion, but would not disclose additional details.