Zelensky warns leaked Kremlin files expose NATO attack plans
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed leaked Russian intelligence documents indicate Vladimir Putin is considering military operations launched from Belarus that could threaten both northern Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank.
According to Zelensky, the documents suggest Moscow is examining two potential axes of attack: a renewed push towards Kyiv via the Chernihiv region, or a direct operation targeting a NATO member bordering Belarus — most notably Poland, Lithuania, or Latvia.
Particular concern surrounds the Suwalki Gap — the narrow 40-mile corridor linking Poland and Lithuania between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus. NATO planners have long viewed the stretch as one of the alliance’s most vulnerable strategic choke points. If severed, the Baltic states could be partially isolated from the rest of NATO by land.
Zelensky said: “Russia is considering plans for operations to the south and north of Belarusian territory – either against the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction in Ukraine or against one of the NATO countries directly from the territory of Belarus.”
He also warned that Kyiv was monitoring what he described as Russian attempts to pull Belarus deeper into the war, adding that Ukraine would respond forcefully if Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko allowed his territory to be used for a fresh offensive.
The alleged documents reportedly identify around two dozen targets inside Ukraine, including political and military infrastructure, Zelensky’s headquarters, and a state residence in the Kyiv region.
The claims are likely to intensify anxiety across NATO’s eastern members, many of which have already accelerated border fortifications and military preparations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Lithuania and Latvia have both expanded defensive works along their frontiers with Belarus and Russia amid fears Moscow could test NATO resolve through hybrid warfare, provocations, or limited incursions.
No independent verification of the leaked documents has yet emerged publicly, and neither the Kremlin nor Belarusian authorities have formally responded to Zelensky’s remarks.
