Volodymyr Zelensky has released satellite images that allegedly show Russian preparations for a new major air offensive on Kyiv - and not only on civilian targets, but on the political heart of the Ukrainian government. According to Ukrainian intelligence, the list contains around 20 political centres and military installations.

„Ukrainians will never give up their independence”, Zelensky said when releasing the material. The images, Ukrainian sources say, confirm that the Russian services are actively tracking the movements of the Ukrainian leadership - not for a propaganda game, but for military planning.

The translation of all this is simple. Moscow is looking to destroy Kyiv's political nests at the same time as the military strike. That is a strategy that was used in Syria, in Iraq, and is now being attempted in Ukraine. The aim isn't victory on the battlefield - it is the paralysis of the state.

Zelensky also warned of possible involvement by Belarus in the attacks. That is no fresh conspiracy - people in Minsk have spent four years toying between formal neutrality and real cooperation with Moscow. The question is whether Alexander Lukashenko will go for direct attacks or stay at the level of being a territory-launchpad for Russian forces.

Zelensky ended his message with a call for negotiations. It is a diplomatic ritual that gets repeated every few weeks - and he himself probably doesn't believe it will lead to anything. They demand „a dignified peace”, which is code for: if they give up territory, that isn't peace, it's occupation. An understandable stance - but no solution. The war continues precisely because both sides think the other should yield first.

For Balkan readers, this is a story with a familiar structure. When a state loses its political centres, the nation doesn't collapse - it just reorganises into forms that are harder to control. That is best known in this part of the world, after all our own wars. That is why Moscow is in a hurry - it wants to finish the job before the Ukrainian state becomes too sprawling, too decentralised, too much like the things Russia recognises.