The information came from the recent Discord leaks.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Washington Post reported that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the country should “blow up” the Druzhba pipeline, crippling Hungary’s Russian oil acquisition.
- U.S. intelligence apparently intercepted the digital communication and has not questioned the authenticity of its contents.
- Operating since 1964, the Druzhba pipeline is a massive oil network spanning 4,000 miles. It runs through Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania. With a daily capacity of 1.2-1.4 million barrels, it has faced attacks, including one in May 2023 near the Russian-Ukrainian border.
- The new information is part of the intelligence leak from the social media messaging platform Discord and reveals a more aggressive side of Zelenskey rather than his publically calm exterior.
- Zelenskyy highlighted that Ukraine “should just blow up the pipeline and destroy likely Hungarian [Prime Minister] Viktor Orban’s industry, which is based heavily on Russian oil,” the intelligence document reads, referring to a conversation Zelensky had with Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Svrydenko.
- Intelligence officials noted that Zelensky’s desire to destroy the pipeline may be a “hyperbolic, meaningless” threat as a means of “expressing rage toward Hungary.”
- In another meeting, Zelensky proposed that Ukraine carry out drone attacks on “unspecified deployment locations in Rostov,” a location in Russia, according to intelligence information.
- Former Kremlin advisor Sergei Markov reportedly stated, “The Washington Post confirms that Zelensky is keen to take over some settlements in uncontested Russian territory such as the Bryansk and Belgorod regions.” Zelensky responded to The Washington Post’s report by saying, “We don’t attack Russian territory, we liberate our own legitimate territory.”
HUNGARY’S REACTION:
- Hungarian security analyst Péter Tarjányi wrote on Facebook that the decision to bomb the pipeline would be a “very unfriendly, mistaken and stupid move,” adding, “I understand that Ukraine does not like many Hungarian government actions and communications, but this does not justify such a plan or idea.”
- Tarjányi noted that Hungary has “helped hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees over the past 15 months, despite all the differences of opinion. We have to understand, our country sent aid, medicine AND!!! in the end voted for ALL sanctions against Russia.”
- “Hungary is a NATO member, so such a plan makes no sense at all. This is a huge self-deception on the part of Ukraine, and Kyiv must explain itself very quickly,” Tarjányi continued. “The main question is: Why did the Ukrainian president think that such a plan could be justified???? Why did he think he could risk NATO support by launching such an attack? I await further information on the matter.”
BACKGROUND:
- The UK gave Ukraine long-range missiles with the assurance that the equipment will only be used inside Ukraine’s territory.
- Storm Shadow cruise missiles are said to be a “real game changer” for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the ability to strike targets up to 200 miles away.
- Zelensky previously expressed concern that Ukrainian missiles did not have a long enough range to fit his desires.
