Ukraine's intel chief compares war to football match: 'We are not far from the 70th minute’
Head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Comparing the war in Ukraine to a football match, the head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that in 2023 Ukraine was somewhere around the 70th minute. Since then, based on events, the country has not moved far from this mark, according to his interview with Forbes.
“It all depends on what meaning we put into 'defeating Russia'. There are many options, and each of them has its ways of achieving, and probably more than one. To reach the 1991 borders of Ukraine or to accelerate the process of Russia's collapse? Forming a new government in Russia or simply fencing off Russia?” Budanov said.
According to him, the main goal of winning this war is to fully restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and return to the 1991 borders.
“My vision of victory in this war is a full restoration of territorial integrity and return to the 1991 borders because it will be difficult to achieve more. I hope that this will lead to certain processes inside Russia,” the head of the DIU said.
Comparing the war to a football match, Budanov noted that by the fall of 2023, it was approximately the 70th minute out of 90.
“The problem is that there are two types of time calculation. The usual one is hours and seconds, and the event-based one. Speaking in the context of the latter, we are not far from the 70th minute,” he said.
Budanov believes that the war will be resolved in a combined way.
“In my opinion, our war will be resolved in a combined way. A combination of military force, pressure from open and, most importantly, covert diplomacy, as well as some other factors,” he summarized.
Returning to the 1991 borders
Ukraine's priority goal in the war with Russia is to return to the 1991 borders. Allied countries have repeatedly expressed confidence that Ukraine will achieve this goal.
Despite expectations, the situation has now changed due to several factors that slow down or make it impossible to assist Ukraine.
The exhaustible sources of shells, the need to replenish personnel, financial and military support play a key role in this matter.
