<<Print>>

Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt not long after starting his war in Ukraine, the country's intelligence chief has claimed.

Kyrylo Budanov said Putin was 'attacked.. by representatives of the Caucasus' - a region that includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and parts of southern Russia - around two months ago.

'[It was an] Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened… It was about 2 months ago,' Budanov said. 'I repeat, this attempt was unsuccessful. There was no publicity about this event, but it took place.'

If true, it would be the only known attempt on Putin's life since he launched all-out war against Ukraine on February 24. 

Budanov did not directly link the assassination attempt to the Ukraine war, and Putin has a number of well-established enemies in the region from previous conflicts.

He gave the order for Russian to invade Georgia in 2008 - a war that ended in an uneasy stalemate - and has been fighting a low-level conflict against Islamist insurgents including ISIS in the region for many years.

The security situation has also been destabilised in recent years by fighting between Armenia - a close ally of Russia - and Azerbaijan, which included a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020.

Hostilities along their shared border had ticked up in the early months of this year, just before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Putin is said to be fearful of assassination since declaring war, after hit squads were sent into Ukraine to take out President Zelensky in the early days of the conflict.