Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, predicts that the offensive of the Russian occupiers, which has been going on for 2.5 months, will be completely exhausted “approximately in early spring.”

“I can tell you, the offensive operation of the Russian Federation is underway now. It began in November 2023. As of now, it has been going on for 2.5 months. You can see the results yourselves. To say that they are great is definitely not true. Unfortunately for us, they have some progress in the fields, near Avdiyivka, the one that happened. But this is not what they expected,” Budanov said in an interview broadcast on the United News (Yedyni Novyny) telethon on Tuesday.

The head of military intelligence indicated that the occupiers wanted to reach the barrier line along the Chorny Zherebets River in Kharkiv region and the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as soon as possible. According to him, “there is nothing even close to this.”

“But their offensive will continue. Approximately in early spring, it will be completely exhausted,” he said.

Budanov did not predict what the year 2024 will be like for Ukraine in a military dimension, pointing out that this is a question for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“As well as according to the rules of any game, as they say: You make a move, the opponent makes a move. It's the opponent's turn now. It will end, and, I think, ours will begin,” Budanov said.