Moscow has not commented on the allegations by Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU), which alleged that the two bodyguards had passed on sensitive information to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of the state guards on Thursday following allegations that two of its members were involved in a plot to assassinate the embattled Ukrainian head of state.

Zelensky issued a decree dismissing former leader of the state guards Serhiy Rud after the state security service (SBU) said earlier this week that it had unearthed an assassination plot by two men against the president and other important officials. A successor for Rud has yet to be named.

The SBU said that the assassinations were meant to be a “gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in office on Tuesday.

It said the two men, both colonels in the state guard service, were recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow.

The SBU said the men were tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Zelensky hostage and later kill him.

Other key officials, including SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and the military intelligence agency’s head Kyrylo Budanov, were also said to be targets of the failed assassination effort.

There was no indication at what point the alleged plot had been foiled.

Moscow has not commented on the allegations by the SBU.

It is not the first assassination effort that Zelensky has faced down. The Ukrainian leader said last year that his security services had foiled at least five Russian plots to assassinate him since the war began.

Zelensky’s administration has faced growing difficulties in recent months and has shaken up some key staffing positions as progress in Ukraine’s war against Russia stalls out and officials face accusations of corruption.

In February, Zelensky named Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after dismissing General Valerii Zaluzhny from the position.