Budanov told how intelligence learnt that Putin was preparing an attack

Thanks to agent intelligence, Ukraine was able to receive in advance data on Russia's attack on 24 February 2022. The head of the GUR, Kiryl Budanov, told The Telegraph in an interview.

He also pointed out that the role of the agent network remains important at the current stage of the war with the aggressor.

Agents play a serious role in the process of confronting terrorist Russia: during the war they are tasked not only with receiving information, but also with carrying out special active measures," Budanov said.

The head of the Ukrainian intelligence service noted that Ukraine's agent network on the territory of the Russian Federation continues to grow, and its members carry out combat missions.

With the beginning of the war we have significantly increased our staff. Combat, operational and combat units and technical intelligence were subject to maximum increase," he pointed out.

Budanov specified that a special role was assigned to cyber intelligence.

Due to the growing volume of information received, the Ukrainian special service has strengthened the analytical direction and introduced new services based on artificial intelligence for technical processing of data," the head of the GUR said.

He also said that Ukraine widely uses the opportunities provided by the intelligence agencies of partner countries. They transmit information to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, which is in close contact with the GUR.

The Defence Ministry's intelligence helps guerrilla groups that operate on the territory of the Russian Federation, "supports them, interacts with them, sometimes expresses its requests or sets certain tasks," Budanov said.

We would like to point out that Russia has been waging an invasion war against Ukraine for two years.