Assassination attempts on Putin loom over Russian stability, says Ukrainian intel

There have already been assassination attempts on Vladimir Putin, but they have been unsuccessful, said the head of Ukrainian military intelligence HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, on Saturday to the portal Novoye Vremya. "Russians are afraid of losing Putin because he is the guarantor of stability in their lives," he added. Budanov also spoke about the destruction of the Kerch Bridge.

When asked if he knew about any assassination attempts on Putin, Budanov said: "There were such attempts, but as you can see, so far they have been unsuccessful."

On the occasion of the question about the "assassination attempt on Putin," Budanov mentioned his grandmother's stories about Stalin's death. "She said that people felt as if the whole world had collapsed on them, and they didn't know how to live. Putin has been in power for over 20 years, so it will be a very similar feeling (when he dies - editor's note). Right now, Russians are afraid of losing him because he is the guarantor of stability in their lives," assessed the military official.

Budanov had talked about assassination attempts on Putin back in May 2022. One of the attempts was supposedly at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "There were attempts on Putin... Not so long ago, there was even an attempt by those, as it is said, representatives of the Caucasus. This is not public information. It was a completely failed assassination attempt, but it did happen... It was about two months ago," Budanov explained on the Ukrainian Pravda website, which RMF FM quoted.

The Ukrainian portal reminded that the latest assassination attempt on Budanov himself was carried out at the beginning of May. "That means we are doing our job well. But if they suddenly stop being interested in me, that will be a problem," he said.

"Many people there (in Russia - editor's note) have tried and are still trying to kill me in various ways. But, as you can see, the effectiveness is zero," assessed the head of HUR.

Budanov also spoke about the change in the position of the Russian Minister of Defence - Andrey Belousov replaced Sergey Lavrov. According to the Ukrainian, the main goal of this change is, among other things, to optimize military expenditures as much as possible.

"Russians perceive Belousov as a purely pro-Western person. He has repeatedly said that the West is a friend of Russia and that everything that is happening in relations (West-Russia) in Ukraine is a terrible mistake that needs to be fixed. He needs to establish some communication and be a negotiator (in relations) with the West, and unfortunately, he has had some success in this," assessed Budanov.

Moreover, the head of Ukraine's defence intelligence believes that the Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea—illegally annexed by Moscow—with Russia, is an unnecessary engineering construction on the Russian-occupied south of Ukraine.

"It is a symbol, much more important than the destruction of even 60 railway cars with military equipment. There are thousands of these vehicles, but the bridge is only one," said Budanov.

"The bridge must be destroyed," he declared.

As he emphasized, Crimea is no longer an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for Russia; it has become "uncomfortable territory." In his opinion, Russians do not need the bridge in a practical sense; it is "part of the skeleton of the empire."

"We have fought and will continue to fight, perhaps for a long time, but the future of Ukraine will be very interesting. It cannot be otherwise," concluded Budanov.