‘This is a provocation aimed at precipitating a civil war in the country,’ he says after failed grenade attack at Kiev airport
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said a “cynical group of people and countries” was planning a coup against him and warned the army was prepared to face any attack.
Speaking from the Kiev airport after a grenade attack that hit his convoy, Zelensky told a press conference he had information his own political grouping was behind the attack.
“Today we are facing a foreign attempt to take power under cover of a supposed anti-corruption movement. This is a cynical group of people and countries that are seeking to bring down democratic processes in Ukraine,” he said.
According to witnesses, the attack happened at a roadblock near Kiev airport but Zelensky told reporters he could not confirm that at present. According to RIA Novosti, which cited a state security source, Zelensky reported the attack to Kiev’s security service.
The president was not hurt and no one else was injured, according to RIA Novosti.
Zelensky and his Regions party face an uphill struggle in elections for parliament, scheduled for March, for they will be unable to use their parliamentary majority to abolish anti-corruption legislation and regain power in the parliament.
The president also said parliament would debate the findings of a secret security service report submitted to Zelensky which claims political parties and exiled businessmen back Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, RIA Novosti reported.
“The report says there is a broad group of Russians and Ukrainians taking money from Russia, and this is an attempt to attempt a coup against Ukraine,” he said.
According to Yelena Nikitina, a member of the Regions’ youth group, the party takes nothing of the issue of funding in Ukrainian politics.
“I don’t care if European citizens and EU citizens support me financially or not, I don’t care if they pay for my headquarters or not,” she said.