In a recent interview, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service hinted at a possible end date for his country’s war with Russia.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, told ABC News in an interview shared by the outlet on Wednesday that he expects the “hottest” fighting between Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces to take place in March .
Budanov added he expects the Ukrainian military to launch a major push against the invading Russians in the spring. According to him, these efforts could lead to what Ukraine believes will be an end to the war.
“That is [when we will see more] Liberating the territories and handing out final defeats to the Russian Federation,” said Budanov. “This will happen across Ukraine, from Crimea to Donbass.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long claimed his country will not accept peace talks with Russia until Putin cedes the four territories it illegally annexed from Ukraine in September. Russian officials, on the other hand, have said Ukraine must recognize these regions as Russian territories before peace talks can proceed.
Pictured is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the US Capitol on December 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The smaller picture shows Ukrainian soldiers next to a T-80 tank at an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine December 29, 2022. A Ukrainian military official hinted in a recent interview when Ukraine expects the war with Russia to end. Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images
ABC News’ Britt Clennett asked Budanov about attacks on Crimea, the peninsula that Putin annexed in 2014.
“Crimea is Ukrainian territory, we can use any weapon on our territory,” he replied.
Budanov added: “Our goal, and we will achieve it, is to return to the 1991 borders, as Ukraine is recognized by all subjects of international law.”
Michael Kimmage, a history professor at the Catholic University of America, recently told Newsweek that Zelensky — emboldened by Putin’s recent battlefield losses — may very well try to regain control of Crimea.
However, Kimmage’s own speculative timeline for the end of the war does not match Budanov’s.
“I think the safest bet is to say that it will continue until one side is pushed out of the conflict one way or another,” Kimmage said. “We have to think in years, not months.”
Budanov’s prediction could also be altered by a possible major military offensive by Russia, which several Ukrainian officials have warned about in the coming weeks.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told The Guardian in December that thousands of soldiers who were part of Russia’s mobilization offensive in October should be sufficiently trained by February to take part in the war effort. Other senior officials told The Economist last month that a Russian offensive could come as early as January.
In a speech on Tuesday, Zelenskyi also spoke of an imminent attack attempt by the Russian military, without giving a timetable.
Elsewhere in the ABC News interview, Budanov predicted that there would be more strikes on Russian territory in the future.
Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack on a military base in Russia in late December, Budanov said he was “glad to see it,” adding that “deeper and deeper” attacks were taking place inside Russia. However, he did not say that Ukraine was directly behind such attacks.
Budanov also conveyed a message to US citizens, saying they saw the positive impact American support had on Ukraine.
“I promise it won’t be long now before every taxpayer in the US can see where every penny went,” he said. “We will change this world together.”
Newsweek asked the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment.