CIA director travelled to Ukraine before Russia’s invasion to warn of assassination attempts on Volodymyr Zelensky

A new book has revealed the moment the head of a US intelligence agency secretly flew to Kyiv bearing chilling information.

Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: Presidential Press Service/AFP

New details of a secret meeting held between Volodymyr Zelensky and America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have revealed the United States warned the Ukrainian leader of a Russian assassination plot in the weeks before Vladimir Putin invaded.

In January of 2022, as Russian tanks began to line up at the Ukrainian border, CIA director Bill Burns embarked on a covert journey to Kyiv to converse with the President.

Reports say Mr Zelensky was “caught off guard” by the seriousness of the warnings. During that time, he was publicly playing down the possibility that Putin would launch an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and accusing the US administration of causing a “frenzy” by sharing its intelligence on the matter publicly.

A new account from author Chris Whipple in his upcoming book, The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House, showed just how wrong the Ukrainian leader was.

It was unconventional for the US to publicly reveal intelligence, indicating that Washington had high confidence in its evaluation of Russia’s intention to invade.

Nevertheless, just weeks before the war started, Mr Zelensky expressed concerns that such warnings would have a detrimental effect on the Ukrainian economy. He stressed that Kyiv was accustomed to confronting threats from Russia and that his nation would be adopting a “business-as-usual” approach.

“Burns had come to give him a wake-up call” and the CIA director shared that Russian Special Forces were coming for Mr Zelensky, writes Whipple, adding that US President Joe Biden instructed Mr Burns “to share precise details of the Russian plots”.

“This immediately got Zelensky’s attention; he was taken aback, sobered by this news,” Whipple writes in the book, which is set to release today.

Russia invaded Ukraine the following month in a gesture that shocked the world, initiating the most extensive military conflict in Europe since World War II.

Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly expressed concerns that warnings of an invasion would have a detrimental effect on the Ukrainian economy.

Mr Zelensky earned praise from his supporters and a host of allied countries for refusing to leave Ukraine even while some of the most severe attacks were occurring on major cities.

Since that time, Ukrainian officials have spoken about him surviving more than a dozen alleged Russian assassination attempts. In a recent interview, Mr Burns indicated the CIA had given the Ukranian President’s security detail enough information to save his life on at least two occasions.

“The intelligence was so detailed that it would assist Zelensky’s security forces to thwart two separate Russian attempts on his life,” Whipple writes.

During his covert trip to Kyiv in 2022, Mr Burns also shared a “blueprint of Putin‘s invasion plan” to assist Mr Zelensky in what was understood to be an imminent invasion.

Mr Burns previewed Russian plans to attack Antonov Airport north of Kyiv and warned it was intended to be used as a staging area for an assault on Kyiv.

In his covert trip to Kyiv in 2022, Burns also shared a ‘blueprint of Putin‘s invasion plan’ to assist Zelensky in what was understood to be an imminent invasion.

The gesture from the CIA indicated Washington had faith in its evaluation of Russia’s objectives to annex the nation.

The war in Ukraine will be discussed heavily at this week’s meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with a focus on uniting a “fragmented” world amid a variety of global issues.

Security measures have been put in place with the deployment of military and police personnel to guard the exclusive mountain resort, which is hosting some of the world’s most powerful figures.

The theme of this year‘s forum is ”co-operation in a fragmented world”, attempting to provide solutions to everything from rising inflation, the threat of a global recession, and climate change.

The WEF’s founder, Klaus Schwab, stated that it couldn’t have chosen a more challenging time to hold the forum, but with passion and determination the crises could be overcome.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen will deliver a special address on the Ukraine war on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will address the forum on Wednesday, while Mr Zelensky is set to make the first of three scheduled video appearances on Tuesday morning, local time.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine discussed heavily at this week’s meeting of the World Economic Forum Davos, Switzerland, with a focus on uniting a ‘fragmented’ world.

Originally published as CIA director travelled to Ukraine before Russia’s invasion to warn of assassination attempts on Volodymyr Zelensky