Budanov reveals when Russia started preparing to attack Ukraine

Russia started active preparations for war against Ukraine in 2007. The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Defence Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, said this in an interview with Dmitriy Komarov.

Russia started actively preparing for aggression against Ukraine back in 2007," he stressed.

Budanov noted that 2014 was the year of an attack by the Russian Federation because the conditions were favourable for it. At the same time, the Ukrainian intelligence chief stressed that the Russian attack was inevitable.

Let me put it this way: if the events of 2014 had not taken place, it would not have changed anything. War between us was inevitable," Budanov said.

According to Budanov, Russia was not ready for full-scale aggression in 2014 and was "probing the ground".

They took small steps. If it had gone well, it would have gone further. They have done the same now. They tried to take over the whole country - it did not go well, "well, let's go where it goes," he added.

According to the intelligence chief, Russia wanted to launch a full-scale invasion as early as March 2021.

They actually wanted to start it back in March 2021. It would have been easier for them then. But their plans were exposed and then it was decided to disclose all these materials and understanding to their foreign partners and diplomatically prevent this with their help. It succeeded then. But they began preparations and did not leave the place where they began to concentrate troops between February and March 2021," he said.

Speaking about the purpose of the war, Budanov said that Putin, by shooting Ukrainian cities and zapping their inhabitants, wanted to bring Ukraine "back into the orbit of the Russian Federation".

We shall remind you that the Russian Federation occupied Crimea and part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the spring of 2014, launching armed aggression against Ukraine.