An elite Chechen fighting unit sent to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been 'eliminated'.
A Ukrainian official has revealed the crack team that was hellbent on taking out the world leader was stopped before they could carry out their deadly mission.
In a televised address, Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, confirmed the news.
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According to the Mirror, he said: "We are already aware of the special operation that was to be carried out by Kadyrov forces unit.
"We received the information from representatives of Russia’s Federal Security Service who do not want to take part in this bloody war.
"The Kadyrov forces unit, which came to kill our President, was eliminated."
There were reports emerging from the conflict that a fleet of 'more than 400 Russian mercenaries' had been gathered together and given one main mission: take out Zelenskyy.
The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, was reportedly the person in charge of sending the elite team into Ukraine to carry out the task.
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A source told The Times that the mercenary group was also meant to be targeting Ukraine's Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, and his brother Wladimir, as well as Zelenskyy.
That's despite peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials being conducted to bring an end to the bloodshed.
The source added that the group was promised a large reward and a safe passage out of Ukraine if they completed their mission, however it looks like those bonuses will never be realised.
They were apparently able to stealthily track their targets through their mobile phones and the plan was to go through Belarus before making their way to the capital, Kyiv.
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General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, told The Times that the elite time is 'very effective because they are hard to pin down'.
"They can appear from the shadows, do very violent things and then disappear again, without it being obvious who was responsible," he said.
"They are not directly linked to the Russian government and therefore they are plausibly deniable."
Ukraine says Russia has so far lost more than 5,700 troops since President Vladimir Putin ordered its military to invade its western neighbour.
According to a statement from the Ukrainian General Staff, 200 troops have been taken prisoner.
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The army has also successfully destroyed 29 Russian-owned aircraft, 29 helicopters, 198 tanks, 846 armoured vehicles, 77 cannons and two ships in the past five days.
Stewart Perrie