Head of Ukrainian military intelligence: Russia has no offensive potential

Russian troops are not capable of offensive operations in Ukraine, says the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov.

“At the moment, Russia has neither the military, nor the economic, nor the political potential to create a new attempt at a serious offensive anywhere on the territory of Ukraine,” he said in an interview with Yahoo News. “But it is quite capable of conducting serious defensive actions, and this is exactly the problem that we will face.”

According to Budanov, Russia is now stockpiling missiles to thwart the planned counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “They are trying to build up certain stocks and keep them ready to try to disrupt our offensive, but the truth is that they have almost reduced their stocks to zero,” said a Ukrainian military intelligence official.

Budanov also admitted that Russia "knows how to work with the information space." “Therefore, any event - imagine a rocket that falls on the Kremlin - they will present as a victory for Russia. They will announce that they prevented an even greater catastrophe for humanity by allowing a rocket to fall on the Kremlin, that this rocket destroyed a building that was intended for demolition, and we only helped them. It sounds like a joke, but in fact, Russian society puts up with such nonsense, ”he said. Yahoo News notes that Budanov's interview took place on April 24, nine days before the Russian authorities announced the strike of two drones on the Kremlin.

During the interview, the head of the GUR also responded to Russia's accusations that the Ukrainian special services were behind the murder of Darya Dugina . "Don't continue this thread. All I will comment on is that we have killed Russians and will continue to kill Russians anywhere in the world until the total victory of Ukraine,” he told reporters Yahoo News.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, reacted to Budanov's last remark in her telegram channel: “This is a direct blow to the White House. The Kiev regime has said that the Biden administration is sponsoring terrorism.”

During the war, it is impossible to promptly check the information that even official representatives of the parties to the conflict disseminate.