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Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, has been interviewed by Oksana Torop for BBC.

They discussed the processes that are currently taking place within the framework of the russian-Ukrainian war and may affect its course.

The head of the Ukrainian intelligence service stressed that russia is now trying to attack both on the battlefield and in the information sphere, using topics that are sensitive to Ukrainian society, including the issue of prisoners of war exchange.

“russia is using all possible factors to create social tension. And it will continue to do so. The [prisoners of war swap] process has slowed down, but it has not stopped. Moreover, we are still trying to break through in different ways. We are getting results. And this issue is the same. But it’s difficult, and russia will use this factor to influence our society,” said Kyrylo Budanov.

He also reminded that there is almost nothing left of the professional contract army of the aggressor state, so moscow continues fighting with mobilised soldiers.

“They are fighting for money because they were drafted, because they were forced to be drafted, and so on. I mean, “go ahead”. Well, this is also the russian mentality that plays an important role. “Go ahead,” as they say, and a russian man goes ahead. He doesn’t really think about what will happen to him. But to say that he is trying hard is also not true,” explained the DIU’s Chief.

Please, read the full version of the interview here.