Putin's Adviser Claims Ukraine Planned Invasion of Russia on March 8, 2022
On August 25, 2026, Russian presidential advisor Anton Kobyakov claimed that Ukraine had planned an invasion of Russia for March 8, 2022, which Russia preempted by starting its special military operation in February 2022. The claim was based on documents found by Russian forces in a Ukrainian battalion's abandoned headquarters. The assertion was reported by multiple Russian outlets, though details were sparse.
Where Sources Diverge
The first article from izvestia and ukrainska-pravda both attribute the claim to Anton Kobyakov, while the second article from lenta only mentions the headline without the full content.
Kobyakov stated that Russia preempted Ukraine's planned invasion of Russia on March 8, 2022.
Putin's adviser came up with a fresh story: Ukraine was preparing an invasion of Russia on March 8, 2022, so Russia attacked earlier.
Headline only, no content provided.
Timelines
Sources
Russia's special operation on Ukraine, started in February 2022, outpaced the planned invasion by Kyiv into Russian territory by two weeks. This was stated on August 25 by Anton Kobyakov, the presidential advisor and head of the organizing committee of the Eastern Economic Forum. "Documents found by our military at the beginning of the special military operation in the abandoned headquarters of one of the battalions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Territorial Defense Units indicated a specific date for the invasion into Russia — March 8, 2022," said Kobyakov during an interview with TASS.
A Russian ruler Vladimir Putin's adviser came up with another reason for the start of the Russian war - according to his words, Ukraine allegedly planned an invasion of Russia on March 8, 2022, so Moscow decided to act first and attack first.
Russia, having started a special military operation, preempted by two weeks the invasion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was planned for March 8, 2022. This was reported on August 25 by Anton Kobyakov, the presidential advisor and head of the Organizing Committee of the Eastern Economic Forum (VEF).