{"id":14934,"date":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/ukraines-spy-chief-downplays-risks-of-trump-presidency-as-he-makes-fresh-plea-for-aid\/"},"modified":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","slug":"ukraines-spy-chief-downplays-risks-of-trump-presidency-as-he-makes-fresh-plea-for-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/ukraines-spy-chief-downplays-risks-of-trump-presidency-as-he-makes-fresh-plea-for-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s spy chief downplays risks of Trump presidency as he makes fresh plea for aid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Aid to Ukraine is frozen in US Congress, and\u00a0Kyiv\u00a0could be dealing with a Trump presidency more sympathetic to Moscow. But Ukraine\u2019s spy chief isn\u2019t losing any sleep over the US. <\/p>\n

Trump \u201cis an experienced person. He has fallen many times and gotten back up again. And this is a very serious trait,\u201d Budanov said of the former president who has made no secret of his desire to\u00a0cut\u00a0US support for Ukraine and whose allies in Congress are opposing efforts to authorize more aid. <\/p>\n

In a wide-ranging interview, the military spy chief made clear Ukraine\u2019s desperate need for more ammunition and weapons to hold back Russian assaults, even as he dismissed the risk of the US leaving Ukraine out in the cold. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are expecting a positive decision anyway,\u201d Budanov said of the US debate over aid, \u201cTo say that [Trump] and the Republican Party are lovers of the Russian Federation is complete nonsense.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump boasted this month on social media that he would rather trust Putin over some American intelligence officers,\u00a0and\u00a0famously backed\u00a0the Russian leader during his presidency. <\/p>\n

As head of\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence agency, whose strength lies in intelligence-gathering and secretive special forces raids, Budanov has gained a reputation as being a man of few words but\u00a0one who delivers results. <\/p>\n

His agency has claimed notable successes, including raids on the Russian-occupied Crimea and attacks on Russian airfields, inflicting embarrassing wounds on the Kremlin. <\/p>\n

Earlier in his career, Budanov fought and was injured on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, shortly after Russia first invaded its southern neighbor in 2014. <\/p>\n

A figure of ire for the Kremlin, Budanov has been the target of Russian assassination at least 10 times in his career, the Ukrainians say. Late last year, they may have got close to him.\u00a0His wife was hospitalized\u00a0with apparent heavy metals poisoning, according to Ukrainian and western officials, in an attack that many suspected to be Russia\u2019s doing. <\/p>\n

Known to have strong ties with President Zelensky, the 38-year-old is seen to represent a new generation of military leaders. <\/p>\n

At the same time, his utterances, and carefully cultivated public profile, have attracted some criticism. An enigmatic video appearance ahead of the\u00a0largely stalled\u00a0counteroffensive is seen now as one of several messages from Ukrainian officials that served to raise expectations too high about what Ukraine\u2019s armed forces could achieve. <\/p>\n

With rumors swirling that Zelensky could soon sack Valeriy Zaluzhny, the\u00a0popular\u00a0commander-in-chief of the army, Budanov is seen as a possible replacement. Budanov would not be drawn on the reports, saying \u201cI personally have no conflict with anyone.\u201d <\/p>\n

Military priorities<\/h2>\n

Amid fierce Russian assaults along Ukraine\u2019s frontlines, ammunition\u00a0shortages and exhausted troops, Ukraine\u2019s spy chief has one clear priority: more Western support. <\/p>\n

Artillery systems \u2013 howitzers \u2013 were top of the list, with Ukraine\u00a0needing\u00a0a \u201csharp increase\u201d in the number of guns, Budanov said, regardless of their age and type, as years of fighting take their toll on Ukraine\u2019s long-range cannons. <\/p>\n

Ammunition\u00a0is vital\u00a0too,\u00a0he said, as\u00a0\u201cshells are one of the most decisive factors in this war.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNot so much the quality as the quantity,\u201d he\u00a0added. Ukraine has never managed to\u00a0outgun\u00a0Russian firepower, even\u00a0after\u00a0Moscow turned\u00a0to North Korea to keep its ammunition flowing. <\/p>\n

But Ukraine is holding its own in the air above the frontlines, the spy chief said. With Russia continually learning from its combat experiences, the trend is for even greater use of unmanned drones on and above Ukraine\u2019s battlefields. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is precisely in unmanned systems that we are more or less equal,\u201d Budanov said. Ukrainian social media is bursting with footage from frontline troops showing drones spying on, attacking and even capturing Russian troops, although Moscow uses many of the same tactics. <\/p>\n

Kyiv has also stepped up long-range attacks on targets inside Russia, with explosions reported at infrastructure sites outside major cities\u00a0 far\u00a0from the Ukrainian border. Russian authorities claimed to have foiled dozens of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks since the new year. <\/p>\n

But as Ukraine\u2019s long-held hopes for F-16 jets come to fruition \u2013 with Kyiv\u2019s pilots already training on the aircraft \u2013\u00a0Budanov\u00a0echoed Ukraine\u2019s newest request. <\/p>\n

He wants to see ground-attack aircraft like the American A-10 in Ukrainian hands. \u201cThis is what can really help inflict a military defeat\u201d on Russia, he said of the aging aircraft. <\/p>\n

Although decades old, the jet \u2013 famous for its prowess against Iraqi armor in the first Gulf War \u2013 is still lauded by its pilots and US troops, even as US Congress has looked to ax it from the US Air Force\u2019s arsenal. <\/p>\n

New jets may be a long shot with aid to\u00a0Ukraine entangled as part of a greater compromise on US immigration policy, which has been opposed by Trump and his allies in Congress. <\/p>\n

Look to the future<\/h2>\n

Budanov estimates there are\u00a0more than half a million Russian troops in\u00a0the occupied Ukrainian territories,\u00a0but does not see much potential for movement on the front lines in the short term. <\/p>\n

But he suggested that attacks on Russian infrastructure may grow. While refusing to acknowledge Ukrainian involvement in drone attacks in Russia, he said such operations were \u201cquite possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHypothetically, there is a plan according to which all this happens,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I believe that this plan includes all the major critical infrastructure facilities and military infrastructure facilities of the Russian Federation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0Russian civilians,\u00a0he said,\u00a0finally \u201csee the real picture [of war]. They see burning oil depots, destroyed buildings in factories and plants, and so on. This is all beneficial.\u201d\u00a0he said. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Ukraine and Russia exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war, in the first swap following the crash of a Russian IL-76 transport aircraft. Moscow claimed Ukraine shot down the plane, which they said was carrying dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war. <\/p>\n

Budanov was resolute in his confidence in a full victory for Ukraine over Russia, despite the public concerns over the fatigue of Ukrainian troops, Russia\u2019s advantage in domestic military production and the lack of movement on the frontlines. <\/p>\n

The next six months will be interesting, he said, with that period seeing the end of Russia\u2019s ongoing push along the frontlines. <\/p>\n

For Budanov, the war will only end one way. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe establishment of justice \u2013 This is how it will end,\u201d he said, \u201cWith the return of what was lost.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aid to Ukraine is frozen in US Congress, and\u00a0Kyiv\u00a0could be dealing with a Trump presidency more sympathetic to Moscow. But Ukraine\u2019s spy chief isn\u2019t losing any sleep over the US. Trump \u201cis an experienced person. He has fallen many times and gotten back up again. And this is a very serious trait,\u201d Budanov said of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}