The US has been spying on President Zelensky, fearing Kyiv might start striking Russia's territory if Washington provides Ukraine with long-range missiles, one of the recently leaked documents reveals, Kyiv Post reports.
CNN has reviewed 53 leaked classified Pentagon documents appearing to detail, among other things, Ukraine’s combat capabilities, its potential vulnerabilities, and NATO’s broad efforts to help repel Russia’s invasion, the report said.
One of the revealed documents appeared to be the US intelligence report, allegedly revealing intercepted Zelensky's conversations with military and defense officials using signals intelligence.
According to a CNN publication, a source close to Zelensky said that the US spying on Zelensky was not surprising for the President. Still, Ukrainian officials are deeply frustrated about the leak, Kyiv Post reported.
Thus, during one of those meetings in late February, Ukraine's President “suggested striking Russian deployment locations in Russia’s Rostov Oblast” using combat drones since Ukraine does not have long-range missiles capable of reaching that far.
The intelligence could explain the US's unwillingness to provide Ukraine with long-range missile systems due to fears that Kyiv will use them for strikes inside Russia. But Ukraine has promised not to use weapons provided by the United States for this, the report added.