Budanov in an interview with the Financial Times: "To say that everything is fine is not true"

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, spoke about the “failure” of the counteroffensive in an interview with the Financial Times.

He noted that counter-offensive actions cannot be called completely successful, but this is not a complete failure. Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized in a conversation with the publication that Ukraine was able to prove: the whole legend about the power of Russia is a “soap bubble”, and it will be able to continue to restrain aggression. In a conversation with the publication, Budanov said that the Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023 was not a “catastrophe.” And he answered the question about the counteroffensive and its goals:

“To say that everything is fine is not true. To say that this is a disaster is also not true. Although the initial plans suggested something different, we kept our promise. This summer, our units entered Crimea several times.”

In a commentary for the Financial Times, Kirill Budanov told about the current situation in Russia and immediate priorities in the Russian-Ukrainian war. As the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry explained, one of the priorities of the relevant missions is the destruction of the logistics of the Russian occupation army on the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula.

He also noted that the Russians’ attempts to advance on the eastern front, which have been ongoing since the fall of 2023, have not yet produced a single breakthrough: “Their last attempt [наступать] It’s been going on for two months now. In fact, to no avail.” The head of the Ukrainian special service noted the need to continue pressure on Russia, in particular in Crimea – attack from the air, use naval attack drones and conduct secret special operations.

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