RUSSIA LIFTS UNWRITTEN BAN ON KILLING ZELENSKY AFTER DRONE ATTACKS HIT OIL PORT
Russian security officials have reportedly dropped an unofficial prohibition on targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the top leadership of Ukraine’s General Staff. The decision came during a closed meeting of the Security Council with Vladimir Putin, according to the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets and other pro-Kremlin outlets citing senior government sources.
The trigger was a series of Ukrainian drone strikes on the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region. That Baltic facility has served as a major route for Russian oil exports that help fund the war while skirting Western sanctions. Local authorities have already spent roughly $300 million on air defenses that have failed to stop the attacks.
Security officials argued that passive defense and retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian energy and infrastructure no longer work. One source stated: “It is pointless to fight the endless swarm of drones — it is necessary to destroy the very chain of decision-making.” Another added that Ukrainian commanders “feel completely safe under the protection of Moscow’s unspoken ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ with the West.”
Reports say the council authorized the use of heavy hypersonic weapons, large guided bombs, and ballistic missiles against bunkers and motorcades carrying Zelensky and senior military leaders. Russia attempted to eliminate Zelensky in the opening months of the 2022 invasion but later paused those efforts after promises made through intermediaries.
The Security Council session followed a two-hour conversation between Putin and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the claims. The reports remain based on anonymous sources inside the Russian government and have not been independently confirmed.