Local media outlets have named Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu as the potential target in an alleged assassination attempt which was foiled last night (November 17)
Russian authorities have intercepted an assassination plot on one of Putin’s right-hand men. The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced last night (November 17) there was a plan from a “sabotage group” to kill Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu.
Local media outlet MKRU also named Shoigu as the target, while the FSB asserted it had uncovered a “Ukrainian link” to the preparation of the attack. There has been no evidence to support this accusation.
Shoigu is a close confidant and ally of Vladimir Putin and was entrusted with the task of supervising the invasion of Ukraine from 2022. According to accounts the attack was planned to take place during Shoigu’s private visit to a cemetery in Moscow. It comes after the death of Armen Sarkissian, founder of the irregular Russian Arbat battalion, who died in Moscow.
In May 2024 Shoigu was removed by Putin from his role as Defence Minister, a job he’d had for 12 years. In 2023 he endured a very public spat with the late Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had accused Shoigu of corruption and demanded he be sacked.
Last month, Vladimir Putin underwent a threat to his own life, after enemy drone strikes. Russian military analysts were left speculating that Ukrainian drone strikes on the Black Sea holiday destination of Sochi in October may have been an attempt to assassinate their leader.
The Russian president was in the city at the time, delivering a speech critical of the West while justifying his continuing war.
The drone bombardment forced the airport to shut for five hours and prompted air raid alerts throughout the evening, following Putin’s Thursday night address at the Valdai Discussion Club.
Air defence systems intercepted drones above coastal waters during raids that allegedly continued from midnight until dawn.
Influential military channel Two Majors stated: “It will be extremely interesting to see whether the attempt to attack the Krasnodar Krai with drones [was] intended to assassinate the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [Putin], who spoke in Sochi the day before the attack. This could open up extremely interesting prospects for the development of the [war].”
The publication was implying that if Moscow formally concludes an assassination bid took place, the military response could be massive. Video clips showed stranded travellers at Sochi airport – Russia’s top tourist hotspot. A Moscow-bound flight from Sochi was rerouted to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen republic, because of the drone threat.
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