Russia’s political leadership has ordered its military commanders to draft contingency plans for an operation targeting Kyiv and Chernihiv, though no immediate offensive grouping is currently forming, according to a top Ukrainian official.
Speaking to journalists, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa stated that Ukrainian intelligence services have verified the information regarding the operational planning through multiple sources.
“We did indeed receive information from intelligence, verified from several sources, that the military leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation received a task from the political leadership to plan such an operation in several variants in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv,” Palisa said, as reported by LIGA.net.
However, Palisa emphasized that the existence of military plans does not indicate an imminent attack. He confirmed that Ukraine does not currently observe the creation of a Russian strike force aimed at the capital or the northern Chernihiv region.
He added that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already developed strategic options for defense, response, and counteraction to neutralize any such Russian plans.
Fears of new Russian mobilization wave
The reported operational planning comes amid growing fears inside Russia of a renewed military mobilization drive as Moscow struggles to replenish heavy battlefield losses in Ukraine.
The independent Russian news website Important Stories reported that demand for long-term apartment rentals in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Yerevan, Armenia, surged by up to 30 percent in mid-August compared to the same period last year. Realtors cited an influx of Russian citizens fleeing potential conscription, comparing the current rush to the initial months of the war.
Following Moscow’s initial mobilization drive in September 2022, approximately 700,000 people fled the country to avoid the draft.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned earlier this month that the Kremlin could seek to mobilize several hundred thousand of its citizens by the end of the year, citing internal Russian documents intercepted by Ukraine’s intelligence services.
According to organizations assisting potential emigrants, interest among Russians looking to leave the country has nearly doubled in recent months. Analysts suggest that Moscow may delay officially announcing a new mobilization drive until after Russian parliamentary elections in September to avoid political backlash.