One of Russia's Highest-Circulation Newspapers Wrote About the "Lifting of the Taboo on the Elimination" of Zelensky

On Saturday, "Moskovskij Komsomolets," one of the highest-circulation newspapers in Russia, published an article stating that "Russia has lifted the unspoken ban on the elimination of Zelensky and the entire leadership of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." The piece, citing unnamed Telegram channels, reported that representatives of the security sector had allegedly persuaded Vladimir Putin of the need to kill Ukraine's leadership, including Volodymyr Zelensky.

The author of the publication has worked in the outlet's security agencies department for about 20 years, and the material itself was placed on the newspaper's front page.

The article was published in "MK" under the headline "The Taboo Is Lifted: At a Closed Meeting of the Security Council, a Decision Was Made to Eliminate Zelensky."

The piece claims that the decision "regarding the possible lifting of the taboo on the elimination of Zelensky and senior AFU officers" was allegedly "made following a closed meeting of the Russian Security Council."

"Thus, the security officials proposed moving to a more radical resolution of the issue, specifically the liquidation of those who issue orders for strikes against Russian facilities," the article reads.

The outlet describes its sources as follows: "Some military channels, citing their own sources, as well as a number of online media outlets, reported this on Friday, November 13."

The author of the article is listed as Darya Fedotova, a correspondent for the security agencies department who has been with the newspaper since 2006. According to the website, the journalist specializes in covering the activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General's Office, and other law enforcement and security agencies.

She has been awarded medals by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, holds a commendation from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and has received several other departmental awards. Fedotova covered high-profile court cases, including the trials of Kirill Serebrennikov, Alexei Ulyukayev, and Alexei Navalny.

This week, an article under Fedotova's byline was also published in "MK" claiming that Ukraine allegedly "could have tested an atomic bomb" near Kyiv.

On Sunday morning, the story was featured on the publication's front page.

According to the TgStat service, the first to write that the "Security Council of the Russian Federation demanded the elimination of Ukraine's top military leadership" was the Telegram channel "Dnevnik Razvedchika" (147,000 subscribers) on Wednesday at 15:41.

On Friday morning, the text was reprinted by the channel "Akademiya" (3,588 subscribers). Its description states that "Akademiya" is a training center for "veterans of the Krasnodar 'Alfa' anti-terror special operations unit."

Citing "high-ranking sources," "Dnevnik Razvedchika" described the "continuous strikes on the Baltic export hub (first and foremost, the tenth strike on the port of Ust-Luga)" as the "catalyst for this demarche by the general staff."

"The military proved to the top leader: fighting an endless swarm of cheap drones is pointless — it is necessary to destroy the decision-making chain itself," the post stated.

On the same day, citing "Akademiya," the outlet "Bloknot," founded by political strategist and former State Duma deputy Oleg Pakholkov, also wrote about the discussion of "lifting the taboo on Zelensky's elimination."

On Saturday, following "MK," a similar publication was released by the outlet EAdaily.

The article in "MK" drew wide coverage in Ukrainian media. Outlets that reported on it included "RBC-Ukraine," "Channel 24," "Dialog.ua," and "Gordon.ua."

Several major pro-war Z-blogs commented on the reports. The channel "Dva Mayora" (1.1 million subscribers) wrote that "one would like to believe this good news."

Actress Yana Poplavskaya (168,000 subscribers) wrote that "whether this is true or not, only actual destruction will show."

The channel "Zloy Proof" (604,000 subscribers) wrote that "the topic is a sore and very urgent one," but "babbling by reprinting tabloid rags is one thing, and eliminating is another."

At the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, reports emerged of attempts by Russian intelligence agencies and the military to assassinate Zelensky.

In March 2022, then-Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett claimed he had secured a promise from Putin not to kill the president of Ukraine.

In June, the state-run newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" published a column by military expert Yuri Knutov proposing the elimination of Zelensky.

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