Ukraine foils suspected coup attempt, security services say

CNN
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Ukraine has foiled an alleged plot to overthrow the government that “would have played into Russia's hands,” security officials in the war-torn country said Monday.

In a Telegram post, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed that the alleged coup organizers planned to start a riot in kyiv on June 30 in order to divert attention to seizing control of the Ukrainian parliament and removing the military and political leaders from power.

It is unclear whether the defendants have any connection to Russia, which has been waging a devastating full-scale invasion of its southwestern neighbor for nearly two and a half years.

Four suspects have been identified, including two in pretrial detention, the SBU said. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The SBU said it seized weapons and ammunition, as well as mobile phones, computers and other documents “containing evidence of criminal acts.”

According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, the alleged putschist rented a hall that could accommodate 2,000 people and hired military personnel and armed guards from private companies to “carry out the seizure” of the parliament. It is unclear whether prosecutors are looking for other suspects.

“To implement the criminal plan, the main organizer involved several accomplices – representatives of community organizations from kyiv, Dnipro and other regions,” the SBU said.

Kiev's alleged plan comes as Russia has made slow but steady gains on the battlefield in recent months, exploiting Ukraine's dwindling troop levels and its reliance on the West for weapons – as well as uncertainty over the future of that military aid.

Russian forces killed seven people, including three children, in a missile strike on the southern city of Vilnyansk on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for more long-range weapons.

“I am grateful to all partners who help me. And the decisions we need must be accelerated. Any delay in decisions in this war means the loss of human lives,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Concerns have grown over the future of US military support for Ukraine, with the possibility of another Donald Trump presidency on the horizon.

During last week's presidential debate, Trump questioned whether the United States should continue funding Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Trump's comments on the war in Ukraine are “worrying,” Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Goncharenko told CNN.