Did Russia Target Zelenskyy for Assassination? “His Plane Nearly Collided with a Drone”

[Financial News]  

Circumstantial evidence has emerged suggesting that Russia may have attempted to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Al Jazeera reported on the 9th (local time) that Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre described the circumstances in an interview with the public broadcaster.
According to Støre, the plane carrying President Zelenskyy from Moldova to Oslo nearly collided with a drone shortly after takeoff. Zelenskyy was traveling to attend the funeral of King Harald V. The plane arrived in Oslo on the night of the 8th.
In an interview with public broadcaster NRK, Støre stressed, "This is the daily reality that Zelenskyy faces."
The night before the king’s funeral, Zelenskyy met with Støre to discuss defense-industry cooperation and plans to establish a European anti-ballistic missile defense system.
An official from the Ukrainian presidential office said that Shahed-type drones operated by Russia violated the airspace of Moldova and Romania on the day the drone nearly collided with the presidential plane, prompting alerts.
Moldovan airspace, which borders southwestern Ukraine, is an area where Russian drones and missiles occasionally violate the airspace. However, some observers say it is difficult to view the coincidence between the timing of the Ukrainian presidential plane’s takeoff and the drone’s approach as mere chance.
Since invading Ukraine in February 2022 and starting the war, Russia has continued attempts to assassinate Zelenskyy. This time, too, Russia appears either to have attempted an assassination or, at the very least, sought to deter Zelenskyy from deepening his diplomatic and military ties with the West through extreme intimidation.
[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter