Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed his military commanders to abandon the rules of warfare, leading to a sharp increase in Russia’s strikes on civilian targets amid significant attempts to alter the balance in the war, according to intelligence intercepted by Kyiv, the Financial Times reported.

Axar.az informs, citing Ukrainian National News, that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukrainian intelligence services had received information that the Russian President had "lifted the restrictions that governed previous air campaigns."

"He said that there are no rules now," Zelensky said, referring to intelligence that included intercepted communications from Kremlin officials.

Zelensky said that "Putin issued the order in September, when Russia began intensifying its airstrikes on Kyiv, hitting schools, hospitals and data centers." The Ukrainian president said that a bombed school showed how widespread such strikes had become.