The head of the Ukrainian military secret services, Kyrylo Budanov, assured on Saturday at a conference in Kiev that Ukrainian attacks on Russia are essentially aimed at the military-industrial complex.
The attacks “mainly target companies in the Russian military-industrial complex,” he said during a rare appearance at the International Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kiev.
Budanov said a Russian factory that produces electronic “chips” for the Iskaner missiles, used by Moscow in bombings, was “recently” attacked.
“The explosions in the aggressive country are disrupting society a bit, but unfortunately they do not have a major effect on us yet,” be considered as these attacks will cause “significant problems” for the Russians.
“It’s a matter of time,” Budanov said.
The head of military intelligence also pointed out that the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which has been slowly progressing since the beginning of June, will continue after the end of summer, which is more conducive to troop movements.
“The offensive will continue in all directions,” he declared, despite admitting that the change of season could have a “negative” impact on the advance of Ukrainian troops.
At the same conclave, General Vadym Skibitsky, deputy chief of intelligence at the Ministry of Defense, indicated that Russia has deployed more than 420,000 soldiers “in the temporarily occupied zones” of eastern and southern Ukraine, including Crimea.
“This number does not include the Russian National Guard and other special structures responsible for maintaining the occupation forces in our territories,” he specified.
At the same meeting, Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar emphasized that the Russians intend to retake the areas in the Kharkov region (northeast) that were recaptured by the Ukrainian army a year ago.
“They want revenge,” he said. “The aim is also to disperse our forces so that we cannot concentrate in the Bakhmut area, where we have successfully advanced,” he added.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the worst security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied weapons to Kiev and approved successive sanctions packages against Russian interests to try to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort.
Source: DN
