Russia-Ukraine war: Stop revealing our defence plans, warns Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told officials to stop talking to reporters about Kyiv’s military tactics against Russia, saying such remarks were “frankly irresponsible”.

In the wake of blasts that wrecked a Russian air base in Crimea on Tuesday, the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers cited unidentified officials as saying Ukrainian forces were responsible. Kyiv, on the other hand, declined to say whether it had been behind the explosions.

“War is definitely not the time for vanity and loud statements. The fewer details you divulge about our defence plans, the better it will be for the implementation of those defence plans,” Mr Zelensky said in his evening address.

“If you want to generate loud headlines, that’s one thing – it’s frankly irresponsible. If you want victory for Ukraine, that is another thing, and you should be aware of your responsibility for every word you say about our state’s plans for defence or counter attacks.”

Mr Zelensky addressed his remarks to state, local and military officials as well as other people he said were commenting on events at the front.