5 times Vladimir Putin survived 'assassination' attempts

Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt, a Ukrainian military official has said. The official told Ukrainska Pravda that the attempt on Putin's life happened two months ago.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said that this information was not made public by Russia.

'There was an attempt to assassinate Putin... he was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not so long ago. This is non-public information. (It was an) Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened... It was about 2 months ago,' Budanov told the news website based in Kyiv.

This news comes at a time when Putin is reportedly struggling with poor health and is facing huge criticism from the West for the invasion of Ukraine.

Now, this is hardly the first attempt to assassinate Putin. Several other attempts have been made in the past.

Take a look.

1. DURING SUMMIT OF FORMER SOVIET COUNTRIES: 2000

In 2000, Putin was attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (formed after the fall of the Soviet Union) when Ukranian security services foiled a plan to kill a leader. That leader later turned out to be Putin, reported The Metro.

The summit happened in Yalta in Ukraine, and was attended by leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

Russian media said authorities were informed that there was a plot to kill Putin, and arrested four Chechens and several others from the Middle East.

2. DURING VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN: 2002

During Putin's visit to Azerbaijan in 2002, an Iraqi man was arrested for an apparent plot to kill the Russian President, reported The Sun.

The arrested man had links to Afghanistan and Chechen rebel forces, and he was to deliver explosives to a co-conspirator.

The attempt was due to take place in January 2002, said media reports.

3. EXPLOSIVES UNDER MOTORWAY: 2002

After an attempt on his life in Azerbaijan, another plot against the Russian leader was revealed the same year. In November 2002, Putin was supposed to be driving along a motorway near the Kremlin, in Moscow. Along the way there was a group of people who claimed they were installing new signs.

But, an hour later, a media outlet reported that 40kg of explosives had been discovered along the road. The devices then mysteriously disappeared and Putin’s car was rerouted, reported news.com.au.

4. BRITISH POLICE FOIL PLOT: 2003

In October 2003, the British anti-terror police reportedly thwarted a plot to kill the Russian leader.

A source told The Sunday Times that two were held by police in connection with the allegation, but they were released after questioning.

It was claimed that the men, one allegedly a former Russian secret service hitman, were hatching a plot for Putin to be shot by a sniper while on a foreign trip.

5. CHECHEN REBELS' PLOT: 2012

In 2012, the Russian and Ukrainian special services foiled a plot to assassinate Putin immediately after the presidential election in the country, reported the Guardian.

One of the men, identified as Ilya Pyanzin, was detained after an accidental explosion in a flat in the Ukrainian city of Odessa.

Adam Osmaye, a Chechen, was seen on a Russian TV channel telling the interviewer, 'The final goal was to go to Moscow and carry out an assassination attempt on (then) Prime Minister Putin. The man who died was ready to become a suicide bomber.'