Russian Propaganda Reports on ‘Secret Western Plot’ to Replace Zelensky

Reports in the Russian media led by TASS said that the “triumvirate” of Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, chief of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov and Valery Zaluzhny, former commander-in-chief and now Ambassador to Britain have been plotting with the US and UK to replace Volodymyr Zelensky with Zaluzhny as President of Ukraine. They “supposedly held” a “secret” meeting recently in a holiday resort somewhere in “the Alps.”

The Russian media claims that Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported on the meeting saying, “The Americans and the British announced their decision to propose Zaluzhny for the Ukrainian presidency. Yermak and Budanov ‘snapped a salute,’ while securing promises from the Anglo-Saxons [sic] to let them keep their present positions, as well as to take their interests into account in the course of making decisions over other personnel issues.”

The SVR said the “conspiracy” was the underlying cause “…of the recent scandalous attempt by ‘Kyiv’s president’ to restrict the powers of the local anti-corruption mechanisms.” This was in reference to the proposed legal attempts to limit the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

The Crimean-based, English language website “SouthFront Press” said that move led to domestic protests and a Western backlash that “forced Zelensky to hastily backtrack and was a sign of panic within Zelensky’s inner circle, his dwindling reelection prospects and fears of a Zaluzhny challenge.”

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The SVR is quoted as saying that Yermak had “set up” Zelensky by convincing him that the move would be no impediment to Kyiv’s relationship with its Western partners. They said that it had created a pretext for the West to remove the president for his “violation of Ukraine’s democracy.”

Building upon the “reasons for the conspiracy” the SVR said it had “become the main condition for ‘resetting’ Kyiv’s relations with the West – first of all with Washington and for the continuation of Western aid to Ukraine.”

TASS said they were publishing the details of the SVR report so that “the citizens of Ukraine” know that the “election of a new president of their country has taken place at an alpine resort,” before asking “Is this really the way that you were imagining the triumph of Ukrainian ‘democracy, independence and self-determination’ you’ve been dreaming about for so long?”

On Tuesday Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) unsurprisingly denied the meeting had taken place or the existence of any conspiracy with Kyiv’s Western allies on its Telegram channel.

HUR said every aspect of the SVR report was fake and an obvious psychological-information operation aimed at undermining Ukraine’s leadership.

It said the lie was approved by the highest levels of the Kremlin’s special services and “cobbled together by the Russian foreign intelligence service” to increase tension in the country, spread distrust in the leadership, divert attention from the war to the elections, provoke discord, and reduce the state’s ability to resist Russia’s full-scale invasion.

HUR’s post called on the citizens of Ukraine to consider “information hygiene” asking them not to “spread Russian disinformation” but to “focus on fighting the deceit and criminality of Russia whenever possible.”