Over 100 Russian espionage networks identified in Ukraine in 3 years, some of which planned to kill Zelenskyy, Budanov, and Malyuk

This was stated by the Head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, at the "Ukraine. Year 2025" forum. 

"As for foreign intelligence services, specifically the Russian ones, which are truly unceasing in their efforts and continue their espionage and subversive activities, I can say the following: over the three years, we have uncovered 102 enemy espionage networks, including top-tier ones. Among these 'top ones' were those who even planned to eliminate our Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the President of Ukraine," he said.

The Head of the SBU also noted that last year, on the eve of Russian dictator Putin's inauguration, during Easter, Kremlin agents attempted to organize an assassination of General Budanov, directing everything from the main FSB headquarters. The operatives were high-ranking officials from the State Protection Directorate, those responsible for the security of top government officials.

"But the enemy managed to infiltrate and recruit them, and they were plotting their criminal intent, only to be detained by us at the stage of the completed assassination attempt. This was a real failure. After that, Putin removed the head of the fifth FSB service, General-Lieutenant Beseda, his closest friend. And in our materials, in the collection of evidence, we have officially documented, under the court's approval, the FSB curators for Ukraine: Perlin and his entire department, who directly assigned tasks, paid for them, but in fact, the money they were paying was under our control to ensure the execution of the crime. And we gathered all of this. They failed to do this, so the GRU, two days later, decided to take revenge. But instead of targeting military officials or the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, they, in addition to the assassination attempt on Budanov, planned an attempt on my life," Maliuk recounted.

According to him, the "moles" had planned a terrorist attack in a hypermarket of a French company. During peak hours, after 6 p.m., when the store was crowded, explosive devices were supposed to detonate in areas where flammable mixtures were present. However, Ukrainian intelligence services preemptively documented the plot.

"We operate within the law and defend our land, while they act like true terrorists. When they try to artificially link us to crimes we are not at all involved in, we, in turn, document them as a priority. Of course, they try to destabilize us through information. They constantly carry out CIO (Special Information Operations) and IPSO (Information Psychological Special Operations). And here, above all, the legal consciousness of our citizens and our unity is crucial. We are constantly working on this," emphasized the Head of the SBU.

• Russians spend billions on spreading propaganda among Ukrainians. In particular, they do it in social networks and computer games.