Putin in “absolute dead end” – he can’t stop war, can’t win it, Ukraine's intel chief says

This was stated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal by the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

“I don’t know any borders except the borders of 1991,” Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said, referring to the year of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union. “Who can force Ukraine to freeze the conflict? This is a war of all Ukrainians, and if someone in the world thinks that they can dictate to Ukraine the conditions under which it can or cannot defend itself, then they are seriously mistaken.”

“Putin is in an absolute dead end. He cannot stop the war and he cannot win it. He cannot win for objective reasons. And to stop it, he must acknowledge that Russia is not at all the kind of strong and great state that he wanted to portray,” Gen. Budanov said.

“I am amazed by Russian stupidity. Out of all the options that Putin had before the beginning of the war, he chose the most brutal and the worst option for him,” said Gen. Budanov. “Russian specialists have repeatedly warned him that this option is the last one, and has to be very carefully evaluated. They had much better options for him. Now we see the result.”

Budanov also stressed that to speed its counteroffensive Ukraine urgently needs medium- and long-range missile systems, large-caliber artillery and strike aircraft to offset Russian advantages in manpower and equipment.

Photo: Manu Brabo for The Wall Street Journal