Kyrylo Budanov is head of Ukrainian military intelligence and a war hero in his home country. From 2014 to 2016, he fought behind the Russian front and was seriously injured several times.
In 2016, he took part in an operation in which a Russian FSB lieutenant general was assassinated. Russia will try to conquer all areas in Donetsk and Luhansk, two areas that the country claims but does not completely control, he says. In the hope that as much as possible could be conquered before the election in the USA and Donald Trump, who might then be re-elected, could officially ratify the territories as Russian. He is considered extremely popular among the population and is extremely stubborn. Not even a person like him “could solve the problem (the war in Ukraine, editor's note) in one day, he says, adding that he has a lot of respect for Trump. He predicts a major Russian offensive in June, he tells the Washington Post. He says he has been at the top of his life several times, then fallen back to the bottom.