JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine Will Fight Until All Russian Forces Are Expelled, Military Intelligence Chief Says” – WSJ
“Kyiv must reclaim territory in Crimea and the east effectively seized by Russia in 2014, Maj. Gen. Budanov says.”
“Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said the country would keep fighting until it evicts Russian forces from all of its territory … and called for deliveries of longer-range heavy weapons and warplanes from the West …. [P]eace negotiations … stalled, Ukrainian forces have been pushing Russian forces back in the northeastern region of Kharkiv …. In the coming months, … Budanov said, the military [will] … focus [on] … driving Russia from areas … occupied in the country’s south as well as the eastern Donbas …. Congress [recently] approved … an additional $6 billion in direct military aid to Ukraine and $8.8 billion in economic assistance …. Washington in recent weeks has delivered about 90 M777 howitzers, the first major shipment of [NATO]-standard heavy weapons. Another 18 are on the way. …”
Budanov indicated that roughly 40% of Russia’s senior military and intelligence commanders have Ukraine-related background, such that Russian advisors and experts would have been knowledgeable of Ukrainian military, governmental, and societal matters. Nevertheless, he stated, Putin foolishly ignored their advice against a brutal and ill-advised course of action that the Kremlin elected to take in Ukraine.
Click here for: “Ukraine Will Fight Until All Russian Forces Are Expelled, Military Intelligence Chief Says; Kyiv must reclaim territory in Crimea and the east effectively seized by Russia in 2014, Maj. Gen. Budanov says” – Wall Street Journal/ Yaroslav Trofimov
With an estimated 40% of Russia’s top military and intelligence commanders hailing from Ukraine, Moscow doesn’t lack expertise on Ukraine’s government, military and society, Gen. Budanov said. And yet, according to the GUR’s reporting, he said, Mr. Putin rejected the more cautious counsel of his advisers when he launched the all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
“I am amazed by Russian stupidity. Out of all the options that Putin had before the beginning of the war, he chose the most brutal and the worst option for him,” Gen. Budanov said. “Russian specialists have repeatedly warned him that this option is the last one, and has to be very carefully evaluated. They had much better options for him. Now we see the result.”