State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrey Kartapolov said the Verkhovna Rada and the Ukrainian president’s office should not be viewed as decision-making centers.

He explained that the term refers instead to protected, deeply buried command posts. According to Kartapolov, these are control facilities used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, individual branches of the military, formations, security agencies and government structures. He stressed that such sites are not located in central Kiev.

Kartapolov said the task of Russian forces is to identify the location of these facilities and then strike them with available weapons. As for a possible strike on Vladimir Zelensky, he noted that only Russian President Vladimir Putin could make such a decision.

The lawmaker also argued that Zelensky does not appear at the presidential office and instead stays in a bunker, while only a small number of staff remain at the office itself. In his view, using expensive munitions against such a site would make little practical sense.

Kartapolov also commented on Ukrainian infrastructure. He said bridges built by Soviet engineers were designed with a high margin of strength and are capable of withstanding serious impacts. For that reason, he believes using missiles against such targets is not rational.