Kathrine Frich
The push will last just under six weeks.
When a conflict drags on for years, leaders are often forced to look beyond traditional battlefields to find a breakthrough.
Finding new ways to pressure an adversary becomes a top priority behind closed doors.
A fresh strategy is now unfolding from Kyiv, aiming to change the course of the ongoing war within a very specific timeframe.
Ticking clock
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a big shift in strategy during a late-night address on Thursday.
With a tight deadline now in place, Kyiv hopes to push the Kremlin directly toward peace negotiations.
The plan involves a highly coordinated effort aimed directly at the heart of the Russian state. According to a report by the Latvian news agency LETA, the push will last just under six weeks.
Zelensky delivered the update on social media following a high-level briefing with his top intelligence official, Major General Yevhen Khmar.
Pressure from within
The specialized initiative is being described as a targeted campaign to force a diplomatic resolution. Behind the scenes, it places a heavy burden on Ukraine’s primary intelligence and security apparatus.
“I have approved a 40-day operation for the [Ukrainian Security] Service, aimed at influencing the aggressor state to encourage it to end the war,” Zelensky stated online.
While specific operational details remain highly classified, the move signals a desire to exploit vulnerabilities inside Russia itself. Kyiv hopes that intense, sustained pressure over the next month will alter the political calculus in Moscow.
Power of drones
The timing of this new push coincides with what Ukrainian officials view as a string of major successes behind the scenes. Technology has played a massive role in their recent military calculations.
Zelensky praised his intelligence teams for their consistency, noting that they have been demonstrating “the best performance in protecting Ukrainian positions at the front, thanks to the use of various types of drones, for several months.”
Much of that success comes down to a heavy reliance on advanced unmanned aerial vehicles. Intelligence forces have spent several months using various types of drones to strike key infrastructure and disrupt Russian logistics.
Now, those same capabilities are being channeled into this new, fast-moving campaign to push Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
Sources: LETA
