As President Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to Kharkiv ended, the entire official convoy was on its way back to Kyiv when the president’s car collided with another vehicle just hours ago.

A “passenger” vehicle reportedly clashed with the president’s motorcade in the Ukraine capital, with some passersby witnessing the event. According to spokesman Sergii Nikiforov, the passenger vehicle driver received first aid from Zelensky’s medical team, and the Ukrainian president was taken away by the ambulance. The initial notes from the medical team stated that the Ukrainian president did not suffer any severe injuries. However, they also did not specify what type of injuries Zelensky got during the accident.

This will not be the first time Zelensky’s life was put on the line. So far, he has survived more than a dozen assassination attempts, but presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak said they are working with a “very powerful network of intelligence and counterintelligence.”

“They track it all, and all these groups are being liquidated. We understand all the plans, and our counterintelligence works on them. ”

“From a security point of view, I cannot talk about some things. These risks have not disappeared anywhere,” Podolyak said. “Western intelligence is right to say that the main target for Putin was Mr. Zelensky in terms of attacking the government quarter and trying to kill the country’s key manager.”

Zelensky has yet to appear in his nightly address, probably because of the accident. Ukrainian officials are now investigating the cause of the accident, possibly exploring if this was an attempt on the president’s life.

Putin Assassination Attempt?

In a parallel story, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s car was also hit by a “loud bang” while traveling back to his residence.

Putin reportedly used a decoy motorcade in fear of assassination attempts, but his location was compromised.

“On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, [and] the second escort car drove around without stopping [due to the] sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle,” according to the General SVR Telegram channel.

Putin’s limousine drove safely, but when the bang happened, the vehicle was seen having “problems with control.” Still, Putin got out of the vehicle unharmed. But after the event, multiple arrests on his security service were made, while some of his bodyguards were reportedly missing.

The sources at the anti-Kremlin Telegram channel also claimed that Putin’s bodyguards are currently in custody and have been suspended.

“A narrow circle of people knew about the movement of the president in this cortege, and all of them were from the presidential security service. After the incident, three of them disappeared. These were exactly the people who were in the first car of the motorcade. Their fate is currently unknown. The car on which they were traveling was found empty a few kilometres from the incident.”

However, before we conclude that this is an assassination attempt, as SOFREP Editor-in-Chief Sean Spoonts have said, it may simply be an accident. The tires could have been overheated, and the “loud bang” came from that. The presidential state car, the Aurus Senat limousine, is also extremely heavy. So even though it has various life-saving, offensive, and defensive features in alignment with Federal Protective Standards, its wheels are still its Achilles heels.

This is a developing story, and SOFREP will update this article as new information comes to light.

H/t: AP/Mirror