Occupy Russian cities to gain advantage in negotiations with Moscow, bomb an oil pipeline leading Russian oil to Hungary, insist on getting long-range missiles so as to hit targets across the border. These are the “bold” proposals that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyhe has exposed in recent months to his closest collaborators and military leaders, according to reports secret US intelligence documents published by Washington Post. The leaks, circulated on the Discord messaging platform and not denied by the Pentagon, describe “a leader with aggressive instincts, in stark contrast to his public image as a calm and stoic statesman enduring Russia’s brutal onslaught,” writes the newspaper. The report, we read, “was created by eavesdropping and provides a rare private insight into Zelensky’s decisions.”
In a meeting at the end of January, for example – reads a top secret document – the Ukrainian president suggested “conduct attacks in Russia” moving troops into enemy territory to “occupy unspecified border Russian cities.” The target? “Give Kiev a head start in talks with Moscow,” writes the intelligence. In February, in a face to face with the commander-in-chief of the army Valery ZaluzhnyZelensky “he said he was worried” of the fact that “Ukraine did not have long-range missiles capable of hit the troops deployed in Russia, or anything else to attack them with”. Again, in mid-February, speaking with Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Svrydenko, she suggested that “to blow up” the Soviet Druzhba pipeline carrying oil to Hungary, “destroying Viktor Orbán’s industry, heavily dependent on Russian oil,” the document reads.
Commenting on this latest conversation, intelligence officers admit that Zelensky was “venting anger towards Hungary and therefore his threats could have been hyperbolic, without meaning”. However, this clarification does not appear alongside sentences suggesting aggressive military action. In an interview with Washington Postthe Ukrainian leader branded as “fantasies” the assumptions that its goal was to occupy parts of Russia. But he defended his right to use unconventional tactics for the defense of his country: “Ukraine has every right to protect itself and we are doing it. Ukraine has not occupied anyone, but vice versa. When so many people have died and our people have been tortured, I’m sure we must use any means“.