The head of Ukraine’s security services (SBU) today revealed more details about a plot to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky at an airport in Poland.
SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk told reporters at a press conference in Kyiv that a Polish military veteran named Pawel K. was working with Russia’s military intelligence services on a plot to murder Zelensky at Rzeszow Airport last year.
Polish prosecutors previously said the man, now a pensioner, was arrested in April 2024 based on tip-offs from Ukrainian intelligence that he had been recruited by Russia.
He had reportedly planned to pass information about airport security to his Russian handlers.
But Malyuk today gave more information about the case, claiming the Pole had been ‘activated’ by Russia’s intelligence agencies and was set to take a shot at Zelensky with a sniper rifle.
He had also explored the possibility of using a first-person-view (FPV) drone to target the Ukrainian leader, Malyuk said.
The details, first reported by RBC Ukraine, emerged hours after Zelensky boarded his presidential jet at Rzeszow Airport and headed for London where he met with King Charles earlier today.
Polish authorities in May indicted Pawel K. for his role in the assassination plot.
He is awaiting trial and faces up to eight years in prison, according to prosecutors.
Rzeszow Airport was not a significant location for air traffic prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, but quickly became a central hub for the provision of aid to Ukraine, and as a departure airport for Ukrainian officials taking part in foreign delegations.
In March 2023, a group of foreign citizens were arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia in the vicinity of the airport, Polish government officials said.
Polish security services reportedly broke up the spy network accused of installing secret cameras at Rzeszow to film the transport infrastructure used to deliver aid to Ukraine.
The group also allegedly installed dozens of cameras near railway junctions and key transport routes in areas close to the Ukrainian border, which lies some 75km from Rzeszow.
