The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence services, Kirilo Budanov, has stated that «the situation is at a standstill» in the absence of progress by either side in the framework of the Russian invasion, unleashed on February 24 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«It’s not moving,» he said in an interview with the British television network BBC, at a time when the epicenter of the fighting is around the town of Bajmut, in the Donetsk region (east).
He stressed that Russia «is totally at a dead end» in view of the losses suffered during the fighting, before expressing his opinion that Moscow could soon announce another mobilization to reinforce its offensive.
«We cannot defeat them decisively in all directions. Neither can they,» he has said. «We are waiting for the new supply of weapons and the arrival of more advanced weapons,» Budanov has explained, who has also ruled out the relevance of Russian movements in Belarus.
Ukrainian authorities have warned in recent weeks of the possibility of Russia launching a ground offensive from Belarus in early 2023, including a new attempt to seize the capital, Kiev. However, Budanov has pointed to Russian moves in the neighboring country as an attempt to distract attention and force Ukraine to send troops into the area from other active fronts.
In this regard, he has revealed that a train full of Russian soldiers moved to an area near the common border, only to return hours later with everyone on board. «They did it openly, during the day, so that everyone could see it, even if they didn’t want to,» he has argued.
«For now I don’t see any signs about preparations for an invasion of Kiev or areas north (of the capital) from Belarus,» he has outlined, while stressing that the Belarusian population would not support an involvement in the war. «That is why (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko is taking all possible steps to avoid a disaster for his country,» he said.
Moreover, he has said that the fighting around Bajmut is being spearheaded by the Wagner Group, owned by Yevgeni Prigozhin, an oligarch close to Putin, in an attempt by Moscow to cut supply lines from Ukraine and open a route to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Budanov has also indicated that Russia will maintain its bombing campaign, which has been intensified since mid-October to include numerous critical Ukrainian infrastructures, although he has hinted that Moscow might not maintain this level of attacks due to the decline in its missile stockpiles.
On Thursday, Ukrainian authorities have denounced a new wave of attacks «with more than a hundred missiles» and drones, with no information about casualties for the moment. Russia has not commented on the targets of these bombings.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
