Elite members of Russian society are concocting plans to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin by poisoning him, Ukraine’s intelligence chief claims.

The goal of the Kremlin insiders is to remove Putin from power as soon as possible and then restore economic relations with the West, according to Ukrainian intelligence. A heir to Putin’s leadership has also supposedly been lined up, with that person being FSB Director Oleksandr Bortnikov.

“It is known that Bortnikov and some other influential representatives of the Russian elite are considering various options to remove Putin from power,” the chief directorate of Ukrainian intelligence said. “In particular, poisoning, sudden disease, or any other ‘coincidence’ is not excluded.”

Bortnikov is a close Putin ally, having climbed together up the ladder of Russian society. Both men served in the KGB in Leningrad, with Bortnikov eventually taking over the renamed and reshaped agency, now called the FSB.

While the claims themselves are dubious, the claims could help Ukraine in driving a wedge between Putin, who is already angry and frustrated, and other Russian elitists. Putin has already lashed out at officials and fired eight generals in an effort to divert blame for the war in Ukraine that hasn’t gone anything like he had planned and has seen up to 15,000 Russian troops killed in less than a month of fighting.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)