Ukraine says it thwarted attempted coup in Kyiv

Ukrainian officials said Monday that they thwarted an attempted coup, arresting individuals who had conspired to allegedly stage a riot in Kyiv.

Ukraine’s internal security service, known as the SBU, said a group of activists were detained for trying to create riots over the weekend that would lead to the removal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government in power. The alleged attempt took place Sunday, as Ukraine was commemorating the anniversary of its constitution.

The SBU did not name the individuals, and it’s unclear whether they are connected to Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has made multiple efforts to target Zelensky. But the main conspirator behind the alleged coup is part of a nonprofit governmental organization (NGO) that is known to be anti-Ukraine, according to the security service, and other NGOs in Ukraine were also allegedly involved.

The SBU claimed that the accused individuals tried to stage a peaceful rally and then storm the Ukrainian Parliament building with the aim of seizing it.

“The organizers planned to disseminate the information about the ‘unrest’ in Kyiv through domestic and foreign information resources,” the SBU said in a press release. “In this way, they hoped to undermine the socio-political situation inside Ukraine, which would have played in Russia’s hands.”

The individuals were detained well before the riots could happen, according to officials, and they face up to 10 years in prison.

The SBU is on high alert during the war with Russia to detain individuals and stop internal disruptions to Ukraine’s military and government.

Ukrainian troops are currently fighting to hold back a Russian advance in the northeastern Kharkiv region, while Moscow is also pushing forward in the eastern frontline in the Donetsk region.