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Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed his military leadership in September to abandon previous restrictions on air attacks against Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence obtained the information from intercepted communications involving Russian officials.
“He said there are no rules now,” Zelenskyy said, describing what he said was the substance of the directive.
According to Zelenskyy, the alleged order coincided with an intensification of Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities, including attacks on schools, hospitals, telecommunications infrastructure and data centers. The Financial Times reported that Zelenskyy made the remarks while speaking from the shelter of a Kyiv school that had been struck by a Russian jet-powered drone on October 1.
Ukrainian officials have not publicly released the intercepted communications cited by Zelenskyy, and their contents could not be independently verified, according to the Kyiv Post.
Zelenskyy pointed to the October 1 strike on the Kyiv school as an example of what he described as the broader shift in Russia’s air campaign. The school was hit while more than 100 children were inside, but the students and staff had reached a shelter.
The escalation has taken place alongside intensified Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, ports, storage facilities and other infrastructure deep inside Russia. The Financial Times reported that Zelenskyy viewed the Russian campaign as a response to those attacks.
Russia has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The alleged September directive described by Zelenskyy therefore remains an assertion by the Ukrainian president based on intelligence that has not been independently released for verification.
