Putin Survived Recent Assassination Attempt: Intelligence Official

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall on the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 23, 2022. (Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin survived a recent assassination attempt that wasn’t reported by the Kremlin, claimed Ukraine’s intelligence chief in a new interview.

Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, made the allegation to Ukraine Pravda, while providing few details. He said the incident took place while Putin was in the Caucasus region just days after the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“There were attempts to kill Putin,” Budanov said. “There was an assassination attempt recently by, as they call it, representatives of the Caucasus. This was not in the public domain. A completely failed attempt but it really did happen about two months ago.”

“Once again, [the would-be assassin] was unsuccessful,” he added. “There is no publicity about this event, but it took place.”

The Kremlin has not issued a public comment after Budanov’s allegations. The Epoch Times could not immediately verify the official’s claims and has contacted Russia’s Ministry of Defense for comment.

Budanov did not provide any more details and it was not clear if he was referring to Russia’s Caucasus region or the Caucasus region that includes Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.

An interview with Budanov will be aired Tuesday, according to Ukraine Pravda.

A soldier of the Kraken Ukrainian special forces unit observes the area at a destroyed bridge on the road near the village of Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv, on May 16, 2022. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, Budanov told Sky News that he is optimistic about rebuffing Russia by mid-August, claiming that it will lead to a change in Russia’s leadership.

“It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation,” Budanov told the outlet. “This process has already been launched and they are moving into that way.”

While speaking to director Oliver Stone in 2017, Putin said that he’s survived five assassination attempts since he became the leader of Russia. At the time, the Russian president asserted that he was not worried about his safety.

Also Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that some 20 countries had announced new security assistance packages for Ukraine during a virtual meeting with allies on Monday that was aimed at coordinating arms for Kyiv.

The countries that announced new packages included Italy, Denmark, Greece, Norway, and Poland, Austin told reporters following a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Denmark would provide a harpoon launcher and missiles to defend Ukraine’s coast, Austin said.

“Everyone here understands the stakes of this war,” Austin said. The top U.S. military officer, General Mark Milley, told the same press conference that the United States was still “a ways away” from any reintroduction of U.S. forces into Ukraine.

Reuters contributed to this report.