Russia has developed a multilayered plan to invade and seize Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv as part of its ongoing invasion of Ukrainian territory, according to intelligence sources of the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda and further shared by the news outlet Kyiv Independent.
- The first step of this plan is to continue their attacks along the Ukrainian border. This will be in order to get more Ukrainian troops to leave Kyiv.
- The landing operation will be controlled from A-50 aircraft in the airspace of Belarus and Russia and the first part of the landing may come from Belarus by helicopter or light aircraft – something that early reports have confirmed, with Ukraine's chiefs of staff saying Russia is utilizing Gomel Airfield in Belarus for their assault on Kyiv.
- After this, Russia plans on taking control of a Kyiv airport and sabotaging electricity and communication lines in the city in order to cause panic.
- Further panic operations will be launched, such as organized arson and looting.
- Russian cyberattacks will then be launched on more Ukrainian government websites.
- The Russian forces will then block Ukrainian highways by causing panic and creating a massive wave of refugees. This will serve as a means of severely halting Ukrainian troop movements.
- Then, Russian troops will take government buildings. The ultimate goal of this is to essentially seize Ukrainian leadership to force them to sign a peace deal with terms set by Moscow.
What is the end goal?
According to the Ukrainska Pravda intelligence sources, Russia's goal may be dividing Ukraine into two parts, like what happened to Germany at the end of World War II.
However, according to a statement from Ukraine's military on Thursday, the Russian aim also includes blocking Kyiv while creating a land corridor on the southern coast toward the annexed Crimea peninsula and the Transnistria region of Moldova.
Transnistria is a de-facto independent but unrecognized breakaway state from Moldova formed in 1990 originally as an attempt to remain part of the Soviet Union should the rest of Moldova achieve independence – an issue that soon became moot when the Soviet Union dissolved shortly thereafter.
Although the veracity of these intelligence reports is unconfirmed, they do come amid other reports from Ukrainian officials that Russia plans on breaking through into the city using a tank assault.
A senior Ukrainian defense official has warned that Friday would be the "hardest day" since the Russian invasion began, and that Russian forces could be in areas just outside Kyiv later today.
It also comes following a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that they have marked him as their number one target.
Read more on the Ukraine-Russia War:
- Day 2 of the Ukraine-Russia War
- Ukraine crisis: Russia wants to take Kyiv: Here's how they might do it
- Ukraine's President Zelensky: I'm Russia's number one target
- US asked Israel to support UNSC condemnation of Russia
- Israel Ambassador to Ukraine: The moment to evacuate is drawing near