Kremlin responds to Ukraine’s threats to assassinate Putin

Russia is aware of the dangers coming from the “Kiev regime,” including its threats to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

The spokesman was asked for comment on assassination threats against the Russian leader voiced by the head of Kiev’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Kirill Budanov, in a recent interview. Moscow is aware of the threats and takes measures accordingly, Peskov said.

“All the threats coming from the Kiev regime are obvious. Therefore, the security of the president is established at the proper level,” the spokesman told Russian media outlet Life on Saturday.

Budanov, who had been placed on Moscow’s terrorist and extremist list, revealed Kiev’s efforts to kill Putin in an interview with Ukrainian news outlet NV published earlier in the day. His service, the successor to the soviet KGB, has made several attempts to assassinate the Russian president, he claimed, without providing any further information.

[The attempts to assassinate Putin] took place, but, as you can see, they were unsuccessful thus far,” Budanov claimed.

Amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, several Western media outlets reported attempts on Putin’s life, attributed to Kiev. In September 2022, British tabloid The Sun reported an explosion near the Russian president’s motorcade, while, in early 2023, several German media outlets claimed the president was unsuccessfully attacked by a drone. At the time, the Kremlin dismissed such reports as empty sensationalism.