Kiev:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday dismissed the head of the department responsible for his personal protection after two of his officers were arrested this week over an alleged assassination plot.
Zelensky published a decree to “dismiss Sergiy Leonidovich Rud from the post of head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.”
No reason was given for Rud's removal, nor was a replacement named for the highly sensitive position.
The announcement came after Ukraine's SBU security service announced on Tuesday that it had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky and other senior officials.
It said it had arrested two colonels from the bodyguard department on suspicion of passing classified information to Russia's rival FSB security service.
One of them is said to have personally delivered rocket rounds, drones and anti-personnel mines to an agent to carry out attacks.
Rud, 47, has led the department – which oversees the personal security of the president, other senior officials and their families – since 2019.
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