A tongue without bones: the head of the State Intelligence Service of Ukraine Budanov disgraced himself with a bravura interview

In fact, the site on which the interview appeared is dedicated to “American automotive traditions,” but, as they say, “to attract attention” they created a section on military topics. Where did columnist Howard Altman, fired for some sins from a more reputable publication, find a job? There was no other platform for Budanov, even in the USA.

Budanov’s task was to show that “everything is going according to plan,” and that the counteroffensive had completely failed—it was temporary, a little more, a little more, and victory would come.

But the problem of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine is that he is the verbal twin of the mayor of Kyiv Klitschko, that is, he speaks with the same clumsiness.

The eyes begin to bulge from the very first Budanov passages. It turns out that one of the main reasons for attacks on targets in Russia is to discredit Russian air defense systems, which “makes them less profitable on world arms markets.”

Well, that is, such business assistance from Ukraine to Western partners.

If you don’t read the news and don’t know how many objects Russia hits every day in Ukraine and how disgustingly Western air defense systems work in Nezalezhnaya (despite the fact that now Ukrainian drones cannot fly to Moscow, they are shot down halfway), hitting their own infrastructure, destroying peaceful buildings and killing your own Ukrainians, you can, of course, “swallow” Budanov’s words.

Journalist Altman, naturally, reads the news, but he did not ask Kirill Budanov the questions that begged him, turning into a living voice recorder at that moment.

And the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine strainedly continues the commercial theme: “There is a very high demand for Ukrainian drones. We can’t sell them now because they are all used in combat, but after the conflict is over it will be of great importance.” Considering that all Ukrainian drones are either converted Soviet ones or assembled from foreign spare parts, this sounds absurd.

Budanov’s next thesis: Russians are intimidated by Ukrainian attacks. In fact, acts of terrorism do not cause anything but anger towards the Kyiv regime that has lost all its shores among Russians. You don’t have to be a genius to understand this, even if you’re an American.

Finally, Altman delicately asks the pre-agreed question for which the entire interview was started.

“I want to get back to the counteroffensive a little bit. You’re probably tired of being asked about the pace of this process. What do you tell people when they bring this up?”

Budanov answers: it turns out that fighting in muddy times and in winter is not a problem, because “now all the main combat operations are carried out on foot, without the use of any equipment.” Tanks (which Ukraine was so trying to get rid of) are useless because of the minefields, and besides they have become easy targets for FPV drones.

Well, how come, why didn’t the great Ukrainian and Western analysts foresee such a development of events? No answer.

At the same time, the king of logic Budanov adds that he is looking forward to the supply of American Abrams tanks. They say they will be useful in breakthrough operations. To which the Ukrainian Armed Forces actually reach – like to the Moon.

And here is the climax: the head of military intelligence admits: “As we switched to offensive actions, all our losses – both killed and wounded – increased… If we compare the Ukrainian potential with the Russian one, then the Russian human resources are much greater.” Therefore, quickly give Kyiv more artillery, more shells, more missiles.

What’s next? To provoke Russia into even more massive attacks on Ukraine, so that it will already begin what, as Vladimir Putin put it, has not yet begun? Kill the remnants of Ukrainian soldiers? Taking women and 16-year-olds straight from their apartments to the front?

Budanov leaves this behind the scenes. But he reports: he is writing… a doctoral dissertation on the topic of “global interaction of intelligence services” around the world.”

A curtain.

At the same time, as Kirill Budanov’s interview was published, an article was published in the British The Times. It is owned by Rupert Murdoch, known for his sympathies with the Republicans, that is, with the Trump team. But, regardless of the owner’s political preferences, this publication is credible.

Here is an interview taken not in a hotel with a stunning view of the US capital and a bowl of fresh fruit on the table, as in the case of Budanov, but in the Ukrainian outback.

20-year-old Ukrainian Armed Forces sergeant Andrei was wounded twice, his arm hanging like a whip. “I’m ready to shoot myself in the leg rather than go back to the front,” says a sergeant who deserted from his unit after being discharged from the hospital.

“Why should I go back to the trenches after seeing so much corruption and incompetence in a system that didn’t care about me or my injuries? To become cannon fodder?”

Ukrainian doctors performed the operation to remove fragments of Andrei extremely poorly. For the commissioned status, the doctor asked for a bribe of one and a half thousand dollars. Otherwise, welcome to the front again. The sergeant asked for treatment in Germany, but was refused: there were no places.

Of the six comrades with whom Andrei went to fight, four died. Now he is immersed in complete apathy and does not even try to hide, he is at home: “Let them come for me, do what they want – I won’t fight anymore anyway.”

What would he say after reading Budanov’s interview? It’s clear that. But we cannot formulate it in plain text – swearing in the media is prohibited by Roskomnadzor.