Ukrainian authorities have disclosed new details about a foiled assassination plot targeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Rzeszów Airport in Poland in 2024.
During a closed-door briefing with Ukrainian journalists, Vasyl Maliuk, head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), revealed that the plot was orchestrated by a Polish citizen and retired military officer named Paweł K.
Maliuk said the suspect had been recruited by the Soviet Union decades ago and continued to hold pro-Soviet views. According to Maliuk, Russian intelligence recently “activated” him to carry out the assassination.
The plan reportedly involved either shooting Zelenskyy with a sniper rifle or deploying a first-person view (FPV) drone during the president’s arrival at Rzeszów Airport. The airport, located in southeastern Poland, serves as a critical route for Ukrainian officials and a key hub for international military aid.
According to Maliuk, Ukrainian Special Services, in close cooperation with Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), successfully disrupted the plot before it could be executed.
Paweł K. was arrested and later indicted by Polish prosecutors on espionage charges. The charges carry a prison sentence of up to eight years.
The Polish Ministry of Interior confirmed that Paweł K. had agreed to help Russia by collecting information about the airport to assist in planning the assassination.
“The findings of the investigation indicate that Paweł K. declared readiness to act for the benefit of the Russian GRU,” said ministry spokesman Jacek Dobrzyński. “His tasks were to include gathering information about Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport.”
This latest foiled assassination plot marks one of the attempts on Zelenskyy’s life since the Russian invasion started in February 2022. In May 2024, Ukrainian authorities arrested two security officers accused of passing information to Russia and planning attacks against Zelenskyy and other high-ranking officials.
