Ukraine's Intelligence Chief Confirms Counterattack Against Russia Continues Despite Winter

Head of the Ukrainian Intelligence Agency Kyrylo Budanov. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA/Yevheniy Shynkar)

JAKARTA - Ukraine's retaliatory attacks on Russian troops will continue as the weather is cold and wet by the end of this year, although it will be increasingly difficult to resist, Kyiv intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said.

Ukraine launched a counter-attack this summer that has reclaimed more than a dozen villages in the south and east for three months, but has been hampered by a large minefield and tight defense of Russian troops.

"Fight action will continue one way or another. In cold, wet and muddy weather, fighting will be harder to do. Fighting will continue. Counterattacks will continue," Budanov said.

The comments, delivered at a conference in Kyiv organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, provide the strongest indications to date that Ukraine is not planning to stop its efforts when the weather changes by the end of this year.

Western countries are supplying billions of dollars worth of military equipment, training thousands of Ukrainian fighters to carry out retaliatory attacks to help Kyiv try to retake its territory.

But the slow progress of retaliatory attacks has sparked concern among Kyiv supporters, the West will find it difficult to maintain a scale of military aid so that Ukraine remains struggling with the same intensity.

Separately, Vadym Skibytskyi, an official from the Ukrainian military spy agency, said on Saturday there were currently around 420,000 Russian troops in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, attacks in the southeastern region of Zaporizhia, now centered around Robotyne and Verbove villages, are seen as an important part of operations seeking to divide Russian occupation forces into two in the south, but still far from that goal.

"Our retaliatory attack took place in several directions," said Budanov, acknowledging progress was slower than he wanted, describing the situation as a difficult situation.

Despite the large concentration of Russian mines, he identified the large number of small Russian "kamikaze" drones, as a key factor that has slowed Ukraine's progress so far.

On the other hand, Russia, which launched a massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, said Ukraine's retaliatory attacks had failed.