Ukraine: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered officials on Thursday to stop talking to reporters about Kyiv's military strategy against Russia, calling such comments "clearly irresponsible".
Ukrainian forces were to blame for the blasts that destroyed a Russian airbase in Crimea on Tuesday, according to unnamed officials cited by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian government was reluctant to admit that it was responsible for the blasts.
"War is certainly not a time for arrogance and blatant declarations. The less information you share about our defense strategies, the easier it will be to put those strategies into action," Zelensky said in an evening speech.
It's one thing if you want to grab big headlines, but otherwise it's quite carefree. If you want to conquer Ukraine, you must be aware of your responsibility for every word you say about our state's defense or counterattack plans.
Separately, Hannah Malayar, the deputy minister of defence, announced that the security services had begun an investigation into one of the instances in which officials spoke to the media.
It claimed on Facebook that "such a leak shatters the plans of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as the enemy adjusts its actions and uses this information against us."
Images released by a satellite company showed nearly three identical craters where Russian airbase buildings were damaged.
There were at least eight destroyed warplanes with what appeared to be burnt husks.
Zelensky spoke to people who claimed he was speculating about what was happening at the front, including state, local and military officials.
Last month, in Kyiv's biggest internal war, he removed an old friend from the post of head of the security service and another aide as top prosecutor, citing his failure to find Russian spies.
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