How long can Russia continue war at its current scale: What Intelligence says

"Unfortunately, they are capable (of waging war against Ukraine - ed.). At the current scale, they are capable. The Russian economy is slowly regressing. As they say, everyone observes its decline. But, as I mentioned earlier, by 2025, we will definitely see the Russian economy and financial sector reaching a critical threshold," Budanov said.

However, he noted that this would not mean the collapse of Russia.

"This is the point after which they will need to make serious, systemic decisions at the state level. Until then, it will be difficult for them, but they will hold on. After that, they will have to make significant decisions. Yes, they might fully transition to a wartime economy. But whether they want to do so is a big question," the head of the Defence Intelligence added.

When asked whether the Defence Intelligence has information on the number of missiles Russia has stockpiled for strikes on Ukraine, Budanov said the volumes are sufficient.

"This is classified information about the number of missiles, as I’m sure you understand. The only thing I will say, unfortunately, is that Russia’s missile stockpiles are absolutely sufficient to continue their terrorist activities," he emphasized.

Kyrylo Budanov previously stated that Ukraine still maintains an advantage over Russia in the context of drone warfare. However, Russian forces are now extensively using FPV drones with cables, which poses a significant problem.

"In the drone war, we are still winning, but the Russians have massively turned to using drones with cables. This is what is referred to as fiber optics. Yes, this is currently a huge problem for us," Budanov underscored.

He explained that such Russian FPV drones cannot be stopped using electronic warfare (EW) systems.