Ukraine is able to hold out for a long time in the confrontation with the Russian Federation, despite the latter's huge remaining resources, but it needs military assistance, in particular, modern aviation and air and missile defense systems, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said.

"We stand and we can stand as long as possible and we are ready for that. We will liberate the whole of Ukraine and also the temporary occupied territories. But not without more help. First of all, we need the armament support. We need serious armaments, not small arms. We need combat aviation, not the fourth generation. We need very serious air defense systems and anti-missile systems and artillery systems of 155 mm or larger. That is our main request. That's what we need most," he said in an interview with the Coffee or Die edition.

"We don't need poorly outdated aircraft of the fourth generation. Our pilots who operate outdated aviation and they managed to hit and destroy the aviation that's generation four plus. They can be trained and be able to do this. Absolutely, our pilots are ready to operate them," he said.

Answering a question about the prospects for a war with the Russian Federation, the head of the Defense Intelligence expressed cautious optimism and noted the low morale of the occupiers.

"When I spoke to many of the captives, we hear completely frank answers. They don't know what's going on and what they're doing here. We can't call them highly motivated. I would say that this is the main reason for success. But there are other factors," he said.

According to Budanov, foreigners who responded to the call of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and joined the defense of Ukraine as part of the foreign legion, as well as Ukrainian partisans fighting against Russian invaders.