007 Kiev, «We are trying to kill Putin and Prigozhin»
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, are on the “list” of Russian exponents that the Ukrainian services are trying to “kill”. This was admitted by the deputy head of the Kiev Main Directorate of Services, Vadym Skibitsky, in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt. “Putin is noticing that we are getting closer and closer to him, but he is also afraid of being killed by his own people,” Skibitsky said, alluding to the Kremlin drone strike earlier this month and describing the Russian leader’s assassination as an absolute priority “because it coordinates and decides what happens”. Skibitsky explained that Kiev’s 007s have similar plans for the founder of the Wagner Group, whose mercenaries have been accused of committing grisly war crimes against Ukrainian troops. “We are trying to kill him,” he said of Prigozhin, stressing that “our priority is to eliminate the unit commander who orders his men to attack.” When asked whether propagandists, oligarchs and civilians are also targeted by Ukrainian intelligence, Skibitsy replied: “We are at war and these are our enemies. If an important figure produces and finances weapons (for Russia, ed), then the elimination of him would save the lives of many civilians. According to international conventions, this is a legitimate goal.”