Kyrylo Budanov

Kyrylo Oleksiiovych Budanov (Ukrainian: Кирило Олексійович Буданов) (born 4 January 1986) is a Ukrainian military leader who has served as the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine since August 2020.

Quotes

 * Sometimes it’s necessary for me to be with my people to motivate them. I’m not taking excuses for why someone can’t do something. That’s why the task will always be accomplished.
 * " This defiant Ukrainian general has no smile — and surprising remarks on Trump" in The Washington Post (April 17, 2024)


 * In Russian dreams, they have occupied all of Ukraine, and in our dreams, we have a victory parade … into Moscow.
 * " This defiant Ukrainian general has no smile — and surprising remarks on Trump" in The Washington Post (April 17, 2024)


 * Classical positional ‘frontline’ warfare is gradually becoming a thing of the past. The 21st century creates new challenges both on the battlefield and in the rear area. Whoever is the first to accept these challenges and find a worthy response to them will win.
 * "Kyrylo Budanov: I have No Doubt That War Will End in Russia’s Defeat" in gur.gov.ua (February 28, 2024)


 * Russia must be brought to justice for its crimes. Every war criminal must be brought before a tribunal. All material and moral damages caused to Ukraine, including lost profits due to the war, must be compensated through the mechanism of reparations.
 * "Kyrylo Budanov: I have No Doubt That War Will End in Russia’s Defeat" in gur.gov.ua (February 28, 2024)


 * The Russians would be very happy to freeze everything how it is now. To have us recognize the territory they've taken as Russian. And they would celebrate their victory. It will never happen.
 * "Ukrainian spy chief defiant as military grapples with shortages" in CBC (February 28, 2024)


 * Drones will never replace ground troops. It is only a way to support them. With the help of a drone you can inflict losses on the enemy. But until, like in medieval times, a soldier comes and plants a flag, nothing will change.
 * "Ukrainian spy chief defiant as military grapples with shortages" in CBC (February 28, 2024)


 * Hypothetically, there is a plan according to which all this happens. And I believe that this plan includes all the major critical infrastructure facilities and military infrastructure facilities of the Russian Federation. Now, Russian civilians finally see the real picture [of war]. They see burning oil depots, destroyed buildings in factories and plants, and so on. This is all beneficial.
 * "Ukraine’s spy chief downplays risks of Trump presidency as he makes fresh plea for aid" in CNN (January 31, 2024)


 * So first of all, the fact itself is that we're engaging the military infrastructure and military targets in occupied Crimea and the occupier’s infrastructure. If we're going deeper into strikes against the air defense system, it's more complicated here. First of all, the air defense systems themselves are very costly equipment and it takes a lot of time to produce those and Russian flags those systems because all this inventory is currently engaged in fighting against Ukraine and also in protection of Moscow. They've taken away air defenses from everywhere else. That is why, naturally, when we engage in another and another air defense battalion of the Russian military, they need to think about where they can pull those systems from and where are they able to tolerate less defenses in other places.
 * "Exclusive Interview With Ukraine’s Spy Boss From His D.C. Hotel Room" in The Warzone (September 22, 2023)


 * Regretfully I don't possess precise numbers of our casualties. But it is completely logical that all of our casualties - both killed in action and wounded in action - went up as we shifted to offensive operations if we compare those with the previous periods. But there is still this very interesting peculiarity that even though we're on the offensive, our numbers of casualties are still lower than on the enemy’s side who are in defense.
 * "Exclusive Interview With Ukraine’s Spy Boss From His D.C. Hotel Room" in The Warzone (September 22, 2023)


 * The only thing I can say is that Ukraine will be forever grateful for all the assistance that’s been provided to Ukraine. And the victory over the Russian Federation will be the same extent an American victory. It will be the same for Ukraine and America together. It will be our joint victory.
 * "Exclusive Interview With Ukraine’s Spy Boss From His D.C. Hotel Room" in The Warzone (September 22, 2023)
 * Those who think they are tired of Ukraine abroad will have to court Russians when they come to occupy their own territories.
 * "Ukraine's Spy Chief Promises More Attacks on Crimea" in The Moscow Times (January 12, 2024)


 * In terms of their economy, Russia can afford this war without significant problems until 2025. In terms of their military equipment, they can manage until 2026 at most. Perhaps a bit sooner, as the pace of equipment recovery they're going through right now is not that high. So, we're looking at around 2025. In terms of human resources, it's clear that they have enough for a long time. But, regardless of what anyone might say, if we assess our human resources in aggregate, there's enough on our side too. Our country is not that small.
 * "War until 2026 and the Russian trace in Gaza: what Budanov revealed in a new interview" in TCH (October 12, 2023)


 * Everyone is waiting for a certain moment when, let's say, the tower of the Kremlin, which advocates a unanimous war, figuratively speaking, leans against the wall and admits that it is not going well. It's a dead end.
 * "Ukrainian Intelligence Official Assesses Security Situation as War Enters Second Year" in VOA (February 28, 2023)


 * Ukraine is now the guarantor of security, in fact, for the whole of Europe. And this is true without exaggeration. Let's put it this way. All of Eastern Europe understands this absolutely clearly. There are different opinions further, but what concerns Eastern Europe, everyone agrees on this. And in fact, why is everyone trying so hard to help Ukrainians in every possible way? Because if it somehow happened that Ukraine would have fallen, they would be next. And I'm sorry, but the capabilities of these countries are in no way comparable to Ukraine. Everything would be much worse there.
 * "Ukrainian Intelligence Official Assesses Security Situation as War Enters Second Year" in VOA (February 28, 2023)


 * Thanks to the idiocy of the Russians, all their biggest geopolitical horror stories have become a reality. And Ukraine will become one of the most powerful states, and, let's say, they have already encountered Western weapons. And we all disposed of, let's say, jointly, all the remains of Soviet weapons from around the world. And they threw out the defense industrial complex of the Russian Federation for many years from the world arms trade. And, let's say, yes, they limited the activity of their defense industrial complex. They disposed of, in fact, the entire able-bodied part of their army. This, again, sets back their military ambitions for many years. Because simply all specialists, the majority no longer exist.
 * "Ukrainian Intelligence Official Assesses Security Situation as War Enters Second Year" in VOA (February 28, 2023)


 * Putin understands that in the eyes of world leaders, especially China, he is becoming an unstable ruler who is unable to ensure order in the elections in his country. He shows himself to be a weakling in the eyes of his people and the elites. Weakness is what he fears most. What is happening in Russia now is weakening the regime in general and Putin personally. We have to use this weakness and make it an additional weapon,
 * [https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/iakyi-by-rezultat-ne-napysala-rosiiska-tsentralna-vyborcha-komisiia-tse-falshyvka-kyrylo-budanov.html "Kyrylo Budanov: Whatever Result the Russian Central Election Commission Writes Is Fake" in gur.gov.ua (March 17, 2024)


 * Like it or not, we’re approaching a landmark battle in the contemporary history of Ukraine. This is a fact, and everyone understands it. It’s a secret when it will start. But everyone understands we are getting closer to it.
 * "Budanov: “We’re Approaching A Landmark Battle In Ukraine’s Contemporary History”" in Ukrainian World Congress (April 24, 2023)


 * What escalation are we talking about if absolutely all types of weapons are used; from submarines to strategic bombers? We need to change the logic: not everything is in the hands of the Russian Federation, and not everything is in the hands of other players on the world stage, something depends on us.
 * "Kyrylo Budanov: Russian professional army ran out as back as last autumn" in Y-e-s Ukraine (September 10, 2023)


 * In terms of creativity and flexibility, we still beat Russia. Putin's regime is no longer as powerful. But the enemy has not yet been defeated, and you can't just say that everything is absolutely bad for them. They are adapting. They have built more than one line of defence well. Yet our advancement goes on!
 * "Kyrylo Budanov: Russian professional army ran out as back as last autumn" in Y-e-s Ukraine (September 10, 2023)


 * They’ve [Russians] been trying to charge me with terrorism since 2016. But I want to begin by saying that the things they call ‘terrorism,’ we call liberation. And this began not because I went mad and started killing people in Moscow. It happened because they invaded our country back in 2014.
 * "'We will keep killing Russians,' Ukraine's military intelligence chief vows" in Yahoo! News (May 6, 2023)


 * All I will comment on is that we’ve been killing Russians and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.
 * "'We will keep killing Russians,' Ukraine's military intelligence chief vows" in Yahoo! News (May 6, 2023)


 * Unfortunately, the Russian Federation knows how to work with the information space. That is why any event — imagine a rocket that falls into the Kremlin — they will show it as a victory for Russia. They will claim that they’ve prevented the biggest catastrophe to mankind by having that rocket fall into the Kremlin, that this missile has actually demolished the building it was supposed to and has even helped them. It sounds like a joke, but indeed, Russian society is accepting of such stupidities.
 * "'We will keep killing Russians,' Ukraine's military intelligence chief vows" in Yahoo! News (May 6, 2023)


 * We are not a consuming body, we are a collecting body. That is why everything we say oftentimes is very much different from what others say. We base our assessment on things that are real and some other people watch a lot of TV or just talk to other people and that’s how they build their assessments. The fact that we are geographically close to Russia — let’s put it this way: We have capabilities in the Russian Federation, quite powerful ones.
 * "'We will keep killing Russians,' Ukraine's military intelligence chief vows" in Yahoo! News (May 6, 2023)