International- Intelligence documents leaked last month offered a glimpse into Ukraine's wartime strategy.
- The Washington Post reported Volodymyr Zelenskyy considered drastic steps to win leverage over Moscow.
Military intelligence documents leaked online reveal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy considered plans to attack beyond Russian borders to gain some leverage over the invading forces, The Washington Post reported.
Among the extreme strategies Zelenskyy considered: occupying Russian villages, bombing an oil pipeline that transfers Russian oil to Hungary, and firing long-range missiles at targets beyond the Russian border.
In a late January meeting, Zelenskyy suggested that Ukraine "conduct strikes in Russia" and mobilize troops to cross into enemy territory to "occupy unspecified Russian border cities," according to one document labeled "top secret." In another meeting, the Ukrainian leader lamented, "Ukraine does not have long-range missiles capable of reaching Russian troop deployments in Russia nor anything with which to attack them."
During a mid-February meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Svrydenko, Zelensky proposed Ukraine "blow up" the Druzhba pipeline, which delivers oil to neighboring Hungary, though US intelligence officials conveying the details of this meeting in the leaked intelligence document indicated Zelenskyy was "expressing rage toward Hungary and therefore could be making hyperbolic, meaningless threats."
The trove of leaked military intelligence was posted on a Discord server over several months by Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old airman at a National Guard unit in Massachusetts, in an apparent attempt to impress his online friends.
The actions proposed by Zelenskyy are in stark contrast to his stoic public persona, according to WaPo, and contradict assurances made to US officials that Ukraine would prioritize using donated weapons only for defensive purposes within Ukraine's borders.
While there is no indication that such attacks have taken place, in September, the Nord Stream pipelines that carry vital gas from Russia to Europe were blown up in an act of "gross sabotage," after a Swedish investigation found "traces of explosives" on several "foreign objects" found at the site under the Baltic Sea, Insider previously reported.
Representatives for the Pentagon and Ukraine's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.