Ukraine blasts Russia's "Psy-Op" on Zelensky plot
Military and government officials in Kyiv reportedly met with U.S. and UK representatives to remove Zelensky from power, Russia's official TASS news agency reported.
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) denied the information, stating it was part of a psychological and information operation aimed at undermining Ukraine's leadership.
Russian media outlets, citing TASS, claimed a "triumvirate" consisting of Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office; Kyrylo Budanov, head of military intelligence; and Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the UK, conspired with the U.S. and UK to replace the current president with Zaluzhnyi.
They even "reportedly held" a recent "secret" meeting at a resort "somewhere in the Alps," the Kyiv Post writes.
Russian media asserts Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported on the meeting, stating that "the Americans and British announced their decision to propose Zaluzhnyi for the presidency of Ukraine."
The SVR declared this "conspiracy" was the primary cause of "the recent scandalous attempt by the 'Kyiv president' to restrict the powers of local anti-corruption mechanisms."
This refers to proposed legal moves to limit the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
The English-language website "SouthFront Press," with its headquarters in Crimea, stated this move led to internal protests and a negative reaction from the West, which "forced Zelensky to hastily back down and was a sign of panic within his inner circle." The SVR is cited as saying Yermak "tricked" Zelensky, convincing him that this move would not impede Kyiv's relationship with his Western partners.
According to the source, this created a pretext for the West to remove the president for "violating Ukraine's democracy." Based on "the reasons for the conspiracy," the SVR stated it "became the main condition for 'resetting' Kyiv's relations with the West – primarily with Washington – and for the continuation of Western aid to Ukraine."
TASS declared it was publishing the details of the SVR report so "citizens of Ukraine" would know "the election of a new president for their country took place at an Alpine resort."
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) denied on July 29, via its Telegram channel, that any such meeting had occurred or that there was any conspiracy with Kyiv's Western allies. HUR declared all aspects of the SVR report are "false" and constitute an "obvious psychological and information operation," designed to undermine Ukraine's leadership.
According to HUR, the lie was approved at the highest levels of the Kremlin's special services and "orchestrated by the Russian foreign intelligence service" to increase tension within the country, spread distrust in the leadership, divert attention from the war to elections, cause discord, and reduce the state's capacity to resist the full-scale Russian invasion.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
