Ukrainian security service claims it foiled ‘coup attempt’
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) claims to have detained a group of suspects who were allegedly planning to instigate unrest and carry out a coup in Kiev.
An unspecified number of “provocateurs” plotted to organize riots in the Ukrainian capital after Constitution Day on June 28, the agency, which is Kiev’s successor to the Soviet-era KGB, claimed in a Telegram statement on Monday.
According to the SBU, the coup attempt was scheduled for Sunday under the guise of a so-called ‘veche,’ a popular assembly, in central Kiev.
The organizers allegedly planned to announce the removal from power of the current military and political leadership of Ukraine, and then to try to seize the country’s parliament building and block the operations of the Verkhovna Rada, it added.
Ukrainian and foreign news outlets, which the SBU didn’t name, were set to distribute information about the unrest in Kiev, the statement read.
Through these actions, the suspects “hoped to undermine the social and political situation within our state, which would play in Russia’s favor,” the SBU claimed.
The group was allegedly led by “the co-founder of an NGO, which has been known for its anti-Ukrainian actions since 2015.” The unnamed person had accomplices from Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk (known as Dnepr in Ukraine) and other parts of Ukraine, according to the agency.
Weapons, ammunition, computers and communication devices were seized during searches at the properties linked to the suspects, it said.
Those detained have been charged with performing actions and calls aimed at the violent overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of power, the SBU stated. The offense carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison with the confiscation of property, it added.
Vladimir Zelensky’s term as president of Ukraine officially ended on May 20 after he opted to scrap the election, citing martial law imposed due to the conflict with Moscow.
