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KYIV — Ukraine Ukrainian military spy chief said on Saturday that Kib would try to stabilize the situation as he defended the eastern front from the hills of the city of Lisichansk after withdrawing from Russia's onslaught in sister cities.
Russia is replenishing reserves as part of a secret mobilization, and it makes no sense to expect Moscow to simply run out of troops in this war, Kirilo Budanov told Reuters. Told.
A 36-year-old gloomy chief intelligence officer of the Ministry of Defense is unusual in Kiff hours before Russia claims full control of the city of Sievierodnetsk, where Ukrainian troops were bombed for weeks. I talked in an interview.
Russia "used the tactics used in Mariupol. Clean the city from the surface of the earth. Given the conditions, maintain defense in ruins and fields. That is no longer possible, so Ukrainian troops are leaving for higher ground to continue their defense operations. "
He said the only way for Ukraine to win was by full military force to recapture all of its territory.
"The strategy is very simple. It stabilizes the situation. Receive the required amount of equipment, prepare the required amount of power and means, and counterattack to return all territories. I will start, "he said.
The interview was conducted in a tightly guarded office. An automatic weapon was placed on his desk along with an array of folders. Sandbags were piled up in the window.
Budanov estimates that 330,000 personnel are involved in Russia's operations in Ukraine, one-third of the total army, he added. Also includes non-combat personnel such as logistics staff.
"The main part of this number is the combat element, which is more than 50% of what Russia currently has," he said.
He is calm about the possibility that Russia will eventually openly announce its mobilization, as it means that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin will face a nasty question at his home. Said.
"They are really afraid of this, which is the main reason why mobilization is done in a hidden way, especially by use," he said.
"The troops that joined on February 24 and those same troops are now in most cases the second, and in some cases the third, personnel groups," he said.
So far, Moscow has stopped calling for general military mobilization called special military operations in Ukraine.
Budanov refused to comment in detail about Ukrainian party resistance efforts in Ukrainian occupied territories, but he used threatening words to the party's targets.
"The people who betrayed Ukraine and all the miserable people who came here to destroy our country will be destroyed. There is no other purpose," he said.
He refused to elaborate on plans for a counterattack in Carson's occupied territory, which Russia seized at the beginning of the February 24 invasion.
"From August, we need to expect visible results of military activity from Ukraine. Wait a minute. We'll see what that brings," he said. rice field.
He said the counterattack would depend on a variety of factors, including the concentration of well-equipped troops. This will depend on Ukraine getting help from foreign partners.
He expressed great appreciation for Western support, but said Ukraine needed more support four months after the war, including weapon systems and armored vehicles to carry out strikes. rice field. (Report by Tom Balmforth, edited by David Clarke and Frank Jack Daniel)