Ukrainian officials planned 'mass strikes' on Moscow and other cities 'with everything' they had, but they stood down after US intervention: report

• The Washington Post reports Ukrainian officials had plans for "mass strikes" on Russian cities on the first anniversary's of the war.
• Ukraine's military intelligence chief directed an officer to hit "with everything" available, but the plan wasn't carried out.
• Officials in Kyiv have disputed the Post report based on leaked documents, calling it "strange media" and "sensation."

Officials in Kyiv were planning strikes on Moscow, among other targets, on the first anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but US intervention led them to stand down, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing classified documents.

The Post reported that Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, who leads Ukraine's military intelligence operations, known as the HUR, instructed an officer to "get ready for mass strikes on 24 February," adding that the attacks were to be executed "with everything the HUR had." Budanov's reported instructions were attributed to a classified National Security Agency document.

A couple of days before the one-year anniversary though, the Central Intelligence Agency sent out a report noting that the HUR "had agreed, at Washington's request, to postpone strikes" on the Russian capital. The SBU, Ukraine's security service, did not agree to that however, the agency said.

The HUR did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The pair of documents offering insight into Ukrainian planning were part of a significant leak of classified intelligence information that made global headlines in recent weeks and led to the arrest of a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member suspected to have leaked these documents online, The Post reported. The leaked documents have caused frustration in Washington and in allied capitals.

As Ukraine attempts to fend off Russian invaders, the US has supported the country with billions of dollars in security assistance, arming it with anti-tank weapons, howitzers, rocket-artillery, air defense systems, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks, and more, but Washington has been hesitant to provide capabilities that would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia and Russian-occupied territories.

For instance, though the US provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine with Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets, it has held off on sending Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with ranges of just under 200 miles, munitions that expert observers say would give Ukrainian forces a greater edge in this ongoing fight.

The notable lack of long-range US-provided capabilities has not stopped the Ukrainian armed forces from conducting strikes far from the front lines of the ongoing conflict, but unlike Russian explosive drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, claimed and suspected Ukrainian attacks have targeted Russian military installations.

Last August, Ukraine struck a Russian military base in occupied Crimea with missiles, causing substantial damage to Black Sea Fleet naval aviation assets, and in December, two air bases deep inside Russian territory were hit, allegedly by Ukrainian drones. Ukraine is also suspected to be behind a number of explosive sea drone attacks on Russian installations.

Ukraine doesn't always acknowledge these attacks, but officials have hinted at Kyiv's involvement. For example, after the attacks in December, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote that Earth is round and that "if something is launched into other countries' airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point."

In the case of the missile strikes in Crimea, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, wrote in an op-ed that the aim of these attacks is to "make these experiences even sharper and more tangible for the Russians and for other occupied regions, despite the massive distance to the targets."

Ukrainian officials, which have pushed back on other elements of the leaked documents relating to the war in Ukraine, have dismissed reports that it was planning strikes for the anniversary as "strange media/sensation once again."

"Why would there be a need for us to do this? What task would such a one-time action solve? Would it change the course of the war? Would it make the Russians flee? Would it remove the need for weapons?" Podolyak said on Twitter Monday.

He said that such reports problematically "shape public opinion in Western capitals as if Ukraine was an unreasonable, infantile, and impulsive country that is dangerous for adults to trust with serious weapons."

"We approach the war with ironclad mathematical logic: we need long-range missiles to destroy Russian logistics in the occupied territories and various types of aircraft to protect the sky and destroy Russian fortifications. These are the main components of successful counteroffensive operations and minimization of losses," he added, continuing to make the case for providing Ukraine with additional combat capabilities.