“This immediately got Zelensky’s attention; he was taken aback, sobered by this news,” Whipple wrote in the book.
The warning proved to be accurate. Russia invaded Ukraine the next month, launching the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Since that time, Ukrainian officials have spoken about Zelenskyy surviving more than a dozen Russian assassination attempts.
“The intelligence was so detailed that it would help Zelensky’s security forces thwart two separate Russian attempts on his life,” he wrote.
Read: Ukraine Joins NATO: Assessing Future Disasters
As previously reported, Burns also shared a “blueprint of Putin’s invasion plan” during that visit in Zelenskyy’s office to help him prepare. He also previewed Russian plans to attack Antonov Airport north of Kyiv and to use it as a staging area for an assault on Kyiv. (un)