Zelenskyys Adviser Says Ukraine Has The Right To Destroy Everything In Crimea, Donbas As Priority Goals

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Tuesday that Ukraine "legally has the right" to destroy everything in Crimea, the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing leaked intelligence documents, that Ukraine was planning to carry out strikes inside Russia on February 24, a year after the beginning of Moscow's special military operation, but agreed to postpone the plans at the request of the United States.

"Why would Ukraine, which today fully depends on full cooperation with partners regarding weapons and how we use them, and what military mission would we accomplish with one strike (at Moscow)? We have our priority goals ... What is guaranteed to us by international law, that is, legally, we have the right to destroy everything on the territory of Crimea, the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. There is not a single legal claim here against us," Podolyak said in a televised appearance on a Ukrainian broadcaster.

The adviser added that strikes at Moscow would not have contributed to resolving the Ukraine conflict.