Russian reports: Moscow lifts unofficial ban on targeting Zelensky, Ukrainian military leaders
Russian media say the Security Council has ended its informal ban on targeting Ukraine’s president and top commanders after recent attacks on Russian oil facilities.
Key Takeaways
AIPro-Kremlin Russian media reported that the Russian Security Council, in a closed meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin, decided to lift the “unofficial ban” on targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top military commanders, according to the US-based New York Post.
The Russian outlet Blokut said repeated Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Baltic Sea oil export hub—including a recent tenth strike on the Ust-Luga port near St. Petersburg—prompted the decision.
According to the reports, security officials at the Thursday meeting warned that defense resources needed to counter Ukrainian drones were running low, and that Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were no longer acting as a deterrent. They noted that the Leningrad region alone had spent about 24 billion rubles (around $300 million) on air defense systems.
The outlet quoted a Russian official as saying:
“It is pointless to fight an endless swarm of drones; the decision-making chain itself must be destroyed.”Another source said those issuing orders in Kyiv
“feel completely safe under the protection of the unofficial gentleman’s agreements between Moscow and the West.”
According to the reports, officials discussed the possible use of heavy hypersonic weapons to target bunkers and convoys carrying Ukrainian leaders and senior military commanders.
The meeting reportedly took place immediately after a two-hour conversation between Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In addition to Security Council members, the meeting was attended by members of the Russian negotiating team returning from peace talks in Abu Dhabi, as well as representatives from the foreign and defense ministries.
Russia had previously attempted to target Zelensky in the early stages of the war in 2022, but halted such efforts the following year after Putin reportedly pledged to do so through intermediaries, according to the newspaper.
There has been no official comment from either the Kremlin or Kyiv regarding these reports.