Pentagon Has Been Spying on Zelensky, Fearing Kyiv May Strike Russia With Long-range Missiles

A source close to Zelensky said that the US spying on Zelensky was not surprising for the President. Still, Ukrainian officials are deeply frustrated about the leak.

April 10, 2023

This handout picture taken and released on January 11, 2023 by the Ukranian Presidential Press Service. AFP.

The US has been spying on President Zelensky, fearing Kyiv might start striking Russia’s territory if Washington provides Ukraine with long-range missiles, one of the recently leaked documents reveals.

CNN has reviewed 53 leaked classified Pentagon documents appearing to detail, among other things, Ukraine’s combat capabilities, its potential vulnerabilities, and NATO’s broad efforts to help repel Russia’s invasion.

One of the revealed documents appeared to be the US intelligence report, allegedly revealing intercepted Zelensky’s conversations with military and defense officials using signals intelligence.

According to a CNN publication, a source close to Zelensky said that the US spying on Zelensky was not surprising for the President. Still, Ukrainian officials are deeply frustrated about the leak.

Thus, during one of those meetings in late February, Ukraine’s President “suggested striking Russian deployment locations in Russia’s Rostov Oblast” using combat drones since Ukraine does not have long-range missiles capable of reaching that far.

The intelligence could explain the US’s unwillingness to provide Ukraine with long-range missile systems due to fears that Kyiv will use them for strikes inside Russia. But Ukraine has promised not to use weapons provided by the United States for this.

Relatedly, another intelligence report says that China may use Ukrainian strikes on targets deep in Russia “as an opportunity to present NATO as an aggressor, and may increase its assistance to Russia if it considers the attacks significant.”

At the same time, Ukraine’s top officials, in one voice, deny the authenticity of the leaked documents, saying that it was just another case of Russia “disseminating fictitious information.”

Thus Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on his Telegram channel Friday, April 7, that the leaked documents are inauthentic and have “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real counteroffensive plans.”

On Friday, April 7, classified military documents detailing US and NATO plans on building up the armed forces of Ukraine before the planned counteroffensive at the front appeared on Twitter and Telegram, prompting a Pentagon investigation.

3 comments

    • Doesn’t make any logical sense to me either. Just because the west can’t adhere to assurances, doesn’t mean Ukraine can’t. Plus with eyes and ears everywhere west sees for itself that Ukraine is bending over backwards to keep allies reasonable happy, in spite of unreasonable western demands. IMO short of N.B.C. no weapon or platform should be off the table. Ukraine needs the modern aircraft, choppers, longer range missiles, and cluster munitions to defend the skies, defend and augment the ground forces, as well as to continue to destroy and disrupt rashist logistics of supply and reinforcement.

  1. > another intelligence report says that China may use Ukrainian strikes on targets deep in Russia “as an opportunity to present NATO as an aggressor, and may increase its assistance to Russia if it considers the attacks significant.”

    Critics say that it’s stupid that Joe Biden doesn’t want to escalate the situation; “how much more can Russia escalate?” they ask. But given this report, it’s not Russia they’re worried about. Ukraine’s chances of winning are far higher if Russia can’t replace the ammunition it’s consuming.

    Even if Ukraine only used the rockets against targets inside Ukraine, it’s not inconceivable that Russia could stage a false-flag attack to draw Chinese help.

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