Ukraine has foiled an alleged plot to overthrow the government that “would have benefited Russia,” security officials in the war-torn country said on Monday.
In a Telegram post, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the alleged coup organizers planned to trigger an uprising in Kiev on June 30 as a distraction to seize control of the Ukrainian parliament and remove the military and political leadership from power.
It is unclear whether the defendants have any links to Russia, which has been waging a devastating, full-scale invasion of its southwestern neighbor for nearly two and a half years.
Four suspects have been identified, with two remanded in custody, the SBU said. They could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
The SBU said it seized weapons and ammunition, as well as cell phones, computers and other records “with evidence of criminal action.”
According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, the alleged coup leader rented a hall with a capacity of 2,000 people and recruited military personnel and armed guards from private companies to “carry out the seizure” of parliament. It is unclear whether prosecutors are looking for additional suspects.
“To implement the criminal plan, the main organizer involved several accomplices — representatives of community organizations from Kyiv, Dnipro and other regions,” the SBU said.
The alleged scheme in Kiev comes as Russia has been making slow but steady advances on the battlefield in recent months, exploiting Ukraine’s dwindling manpower and dependence on the West for weapons — and uncertainty about the future of that military aid.
Russian forces killed seven people, including three children, in a missile strike on the southern city of Vilniansk on Saturday, according to Ukrainian officials, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for more long-range weapons.
“I am grateful to all partners who are helping. And the decisions we need must be accelerated. Any delay in decisions in this war means losing human lives,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Concerns have grown about the future of US military support for Ukraine with the possibility of another Donald Trump presidency on the horizon.
During last week’s presidential debate, Trump questioned whether the United States should continue to fund Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Trump’s comments on the war in Ukraine were “worrying,” Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Goncharenko told CNN .
(Maria Kostenko and Alex Stambaugh, from CNN contributed to this report)
Source: CNN Brasil

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