Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, gave an interview to Le Monde.
In the posted material, the journalists drew parallels between the Israeli special service Mossad of the 70s and the current Ukrainian Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
“Times are different, but we are ready for decisive action,” said Kyrylo Budanov.
Key points from the conversation:
The reason for the russian missile strikes in late 2023 and early 2024 is quite trivial: they wanted to declare the past year "victorious" as soon as possible and move on to the next. However, the russians had no real military success.
However, russian missiles have a number of drawbacks. They often miss. We immediately sent them our response. The target was their military facilities.
Compared to previous years, since the end of summer 2023, we have seen an increase in the number of ammunition produced by russia. We are not talking about shells purchased abroad, but rather those produced by their industry. At the same time, we note a decline in their quality.
The intensive employment of drones on both sides made it impossible to carry out both russian and Ukrainian offensive operations.
Another factor is the density of minefields, which has not been seen since the Second World War.
We have a solution for drones ― it is electronic countermeasures. Mines require specialised equipment. This brings us back to the issue of production capacity. Nothing is unsolvable, but everything must be taken into account.
The northern part of the Black Sea is under Ukrainian control, as are the gas production platforms.
The maritime export corridors, which are very important for our economy, are functioning again, despite the risks posed by the war.
We regularly attack the enemy's naval fleet and port facilities, so the russians had to move everything to the southeast in a hurry. They are trying to establish a naval base in Ochamchyre on the occupied territory of Georgia.
In 2023, the first Ukrainian landings took place in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea, although some considered them impossible. This gives hope ― especially to Ukrainians on the peninsula who have been living under russian occupation for 10 years, and many of them have already started to give up.
Усі думали, що у москви сильна армія, але слабка економіка. Виявилось, що навпаки. Армія слабка.
The [russia's] economy may be weak, but the country is not starving. At this rate, it can hold out for quite some time.
Current Western sanctions are not enough. They would have to affect the main sectors of the russia's economy that have been left out so far: energy, metallurgy and the financial system in general.
We need more shells and artillery systems. It's not just about modern technology. We are interested in everything, including old systems that are no longer in use. The issue regarding the quantity is important.
Ukraine's economic sector needs support in order to guarantee the country's stability. The other issues concern only Ukraine.
The war started 10 years ago, and the full-scale invasion has been going on since 2022. Fatigue is manifested in both the individual and societal levels. I do not criticise, this is a completely understandable phenomenon. The main thing is to find solutions, and we found them in time.
Those abroad who think they are tired of Ukraine will have to take care of the muscovites when they come to occupy their own territories.
The aggressor state of russia is waging a war not only against Ukraine. It is waging a war against NATO, as their propaganda has been saying since the very beginning.
Every day I read russian [secret] reports and reports circulating through various channels. Each of them is about "attacks on NATO bases", specifying that there were "50 Poles", "30 French" and so on. They know it's not true, but they impart just this information.
Moreover, russian prisoners of war told us about their surprise when they did not see any NATO soldier here. In their understanding, they came to wage war against them, and Ukraine is just the first stage.