SAS commandos planning rescue of Zelenskyy after news Russian Spetsnaz assigned to kill him
US special forces and UK's SAS commandos are reportedly getting ready for a high-risk rescue operation to save President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from assassination. For this high-risk rescue operation, around 70 UK elite soldiers and 150 US Navy Seals are currently in training alongside Ukrainian forces.
The troops from the three nations, UK, US and Ukraine are said to have come together at a remote base in Lithuania to plan the rescue mission after it was reported that Russian Spetsnaz special forces were targeting the Ukrainian president and that he had already survived three assassination attempts.
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According to a report by the Sun, a source informed them that the combined forces might try to relocate the Ukrainian President out of Kyiv so that he could be picked up safely. The source told Reuters, "The most likely sensible option could be to relocate Zelenskyy out of Kyiv where he could be picked up."
(Photo by Ronald Wittek - Pool/Getty Images)
Zelenskyy has turned down previous attempts by the US to rescue him, saying, "I need ammunition, not a ride." After surviving a few assassinations, Zelenskyy has recently spoken to the US President, Joe Biden, and the two counterparts discussed security, financial support, and the continuation of sanctions.
The rescue plot comes as Vladimir Putin compared Western sanctions to a declaration of war. Putin declared in a warning that any attempt by the West to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would lead to catastrophic consequences for the world after, the President claimed that the West was behaving like a bandit by imposing the sanctions. Putin also issued a threat directly to the UK, saying Russia will not forget Britain's support for Ukrainians and hinting at tough retaliatory measures.
According to a report by The Mirror, spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned Britain and said, "Russia will not forget Britain's desire to co-operate with ultra-nationalist forces in Ukraine and the supply of British weapons to the Kyiv regime."
Meanwhile, after facing Putin's direct warning, UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is set to detail a six-point plan on Sunday that he will look forward to global counterparts to approve. Johnson told reporters in the UK that “it is not future historians but the people of Ukraine who will be our judge over how the world reacts to Mr Putin's hideous, barbarous assault”.
While bad blood increases among the West and Russia, Israel is trying to mediate the conflict. Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held a meeting with Putin to discuss the Ukraine crisis and the Prime Minister also talked to speaking with Zelenskyy via phone.