Ukraine Reportedly Thwarts Another Bid To Assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky As Members Of Hit Squad Arrested

Ukraine claimed that a 25-man hit squad was arrested on the border with Slovakia, foiling Russia's latest attempt to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Members of the squad started arriving in Ukraine on Sunday as Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly "personally ordered another attack by one of his proxies." Their mission was to eliminate the country's top military and political leadership, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said.

Daily Mail reported that a team of more than two dozen trained killers were on their way to Kyiv, Ukraine on Monday night. That's when they got rounded up by police in Uzhgorod, which borders neighboring Slovakia. The men were accompanied by a Russian secret service agent, said Kyiv counter-intelligence sources. The members of the squad reportedly carried orders to kill the Ukrainian President and infiltrate other elements of the country's government.

An anti-war faction within the Russian secret service reportedly tipped off Ukraine to the squad's whereabouts. The information helped in dooming the team.

This appears to be the latest unsuccessful attempt to kill Zelensky. According to Express, since the Ukraine-Russia war began on Feb. 24, there have been reports of the Ukrainian leader surviving between three to 12 assassination attempts. He has become the face of Ukraine's war effort against invading Russia, but he has also made himself a key target for his nation's invaders.

The Ministry of Defense earlier reported that Wagner mercenaries recently entered Ukraine to kill Zelensky. Among the other alleged assassination targets were the presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Russia has been denying ties to the Wagner group. It is a 600-mercenary squad deployed worldwide in favor of Russia's interests. Earlier this month, the trained fighters were waiting for a signal from the Kremlin to enter Ukraine, intelligence reports claimed.

A 24-person "kill list" including the cabinet, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir was reportedly given to the fighters. The planned attack was sabotaged after the upper echelons of the Ukrainian government got to know about it. It prompted Kyiv to declare a 36-hour "hard" curfew on March 5. This entailed keeping everyone indoors while authorities "swept the streets" for the trained killers, according to Kyiv.