The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirilo Budanov, said that Ukraine is close to facing a “difficult” but “not catastrophic” situation on the front in the near future, starting with half of May.
Amid delayed US aid and stepped-up Russian attacks, Kiev has entered what some have called the most difficult phase of the full-scale war since early 2022.
“A difficult situation awaits us in the near future. But it will not be catastrophic, let’s be clear,” Budanov told the BBC on April 19, before the vote in the Chamber of Representatives USA approved additional aid to Ukraine.
“It won’t be Armageddon, as many say… We won’t talk about it in detail now, but it will be a difficult period. Mid-May, early June,” Budanov continued, Kiev writes Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that it is possible that Russia will launch a major offensive either at the end of May or in June.
Speaking about how Russian forces have changed since the beginning of the war on a large scale, Budanov acknowledged that Moscow’s infantry are now better equipped than before. On the other hand, Russia is faced with military vehicles and other equipment of inferior quality, mainly “repaired, restored equipment that has been in storage for a long time”. “As for the quality of the personnel: those who participated in the first phase of the large-scale invasion in 2022 were the true professionals with combat experience. Almost none of them are now on the front”.
According to Budanov, Russian morale improved after the capture of Avdiivka, “but this was a fleeting feeling.” Following the capture of Avdiivka, a key front-line town in the Donetsk region, Russia began to focus its efforts on Chasiv Yar, a town west of Bahmut.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on April 13 that the situation on Ukraine’s eastern front had “deteriorated significantly in recent days”.
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