Zelensky Assassination is Being Plotted by NATO Nation, Russian TV Claims

A program shown on Russian state TV has made the claim that there is a Western plot underway to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky.

Despite the U.K. being a steadfast provider of military and humanitarian support for Kyiv since the start of Russia's invasion, the propaganda documentary on the federal channel NTV accused London of a plan to take out the Ukrainian president.

Titled "Ze End" in a nod to the Russian pronunciation of the English phrase describing the Ukrainian president's demise, the 48-minute show with a 16-plus rating was broadcast at 6 p.m. on August 27.

The advertising blurb for the show on the NTV website said that "the British are preparing to remove Volodymyr Zelensky. How many doubles are covering the leader of the Kyiv regime? Where is the bunker he is hidden in? And when will Zelensky face the end?"

"For the first time, an American intelligence officer will reveal Plan A and Plan B to eliminate a dictator," the blurb added. The American intelligence officer was captioned as Scott Bennett and listed a possible date for the assassination as October 31.

A trailer for the show posted on X (formerly Twitter) by TheKremlinYap, an account that highlights propaganda gives a taster of what is in store for viewers, adding the sarcastic message "Russian TV has prepared a new blockbuster for its viewers."

"The British are preparing to take out Zelensky," intones the narrator, amid dramatic music and hard cuts of images of Zelensky meeting with world leaders including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Among the soundbites from its experts that intersperse the film is one from Yuriy Baranchik, described as a military observer, who said "We have information where Zelensky is."

Captioned "Plan B; Details about the liquidation of Zelensky," a repeated visual motif is a graphic of Zelensky in a sniper's crosshairs, as the program asserts the reasons that Zelensky was a marked man.

The narrator lists a series of motives for killing Zelensky, which include claims that things are going wrong with Kyiv's counteroffensive, rising losses, disgruntled troops and allegations without evidence of corruption linked to Western arms supplies. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian president's office for comment.

Ukraine has said that there have been many attempts to assassinate Zelensky since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion but none of the plots would have come from its allies.

It was reported that Russian troops had parachuted into Kyiv to kill or capture Zelensky and his family soon after the war started. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in March 2022 that Zelensky had survived more than a dozen assassination attempts, according to Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said that an alleged informant from the southern region of Mykolaiv had been detained in connection with a plot to assassinate Zelensky.