An assassination attempt against Russian President Vladimir Putin was foiled last month at a summit of ex-Soviet nations in Yalta, according to Leonid Derkach the head of Ukraine's security services.
He said that several suspects believed to be preparing an attempt on Putin's life had been arrested in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula following a tip-off from intelligence agencies in other countries.
Derkach added that the suspects "were expelled from Ukraine territory," Interfax reported on Tuesday.
The security services chief told a news conference on Saturday that four Chechens and several Middle Eastern nationals had been arrested after Ukraine received information about the planned assassination of one of the leaders attending the CIS summit in Yalta last month.
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a 12-strong grouping of all the former Soviet republics except the three Baltic countries -- KIEV (AFP)
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