Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt, a Ukrainian military official has said. The admission comes amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has intensified, and rumours swirling around Mr Putin's health.
According to Major General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the “unsuccessful” attempt took place in the Caucasus - a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea - shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
He spoke about the incident to Ukrainska Pravda.
"There was an attempt to assassinate Putin… He was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not so long ago,” Mr Budanov was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian outlet.
“This is non-public information. (It was an) Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened… It was about 2 months ago,” he added.
Ukrainska Pravda said that the full interview with Mr Budanov will be aired on Tuesday.
The claim has not been verified, but comes weeks after reports emerged that Mr Putin underwent a surgery to remove fluid from his abdomen.
The operation “went well and without complications”, the Express report said, attributing the information to Telegram channel General SVR linked to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service.
Further, an oligarch with close ties to the Russian leader has reportedly been recorded as saying "Putin is very ill with blood cancer".
Earlier this month, in an interview with Sky News, Mr Budanov predicted that the Ukraine war would reach a turning point by mid-August and be over by the end of this year, leading to change of leadership in Russia.
He had also claimed that a coup to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway and cannot be stopped.
As far as Mr Putin is concerned, he publicly disclosed in 2017 that he has survived as least five assassination attempts and claimed that he wasn't worried about his safety.
