Ukrainian spy chief says Russia is 'now completely at a dead end' after ... trends now
Fighting in Ukraine is currently at a standstill as both Ukraine and Russia are failing to make significant progress, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency has said.
Kyiv has repeatedly asked for more advanced weapons from Western allies.
'The situation is just stuck,' Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC in an interview. 'It doesn't move.'
After Ukraine's forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November, most of the heaviest fighting has taken place around Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, which Russia has been trying to take for months.
Pictured: Major General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, speaks during an interview with Reuters, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 25, 2022
Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen fire with a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on December 28, 2022
There has also been heavy conflict further north in the cities of Svatove and Kreminna, where Ukraine is trying to break Russian defensive lines.
Bakhmut was home to 70,000 people before the war.
On Wednesday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were 'only a few civilians' left there after months of conflict.
Mr Budanov said Russia was 'now completely at a dead end' having experienced very major losses, and he believed Russia had decided to announce another mobilisation of conscripts.
He argued that Ukrainian forces are still short of resources to push forward in several areas.
'We can't defeat them in all directions comprehensively. Neither can they,' he said.
'We're very much looking forward to new weapons supplies, and to the arrival of more advanced weapons.'
Earlier this month, after a string of Russian military failures, Ukrainian officials warned that another ground offensive by Moscow's forces from Belarus could take place at the beginning of 2023.
Pictured: A Ukrainian grad launcher fires from the launch, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, on the frontline in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on December 24, 2022
Pictured: Major General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, speaks during an interview with Reuters, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 25, 2022
Pictured: A building burns in the south part of shelled area in Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 21
They said the push could feature a second attempt to capture the capital, Kyiv, and involve tens of thousands of reservists being trained in Russia.
However, Mr Budanov said Russia's proceedings in Belarus, including the movement of thousands of troops, were aimed at forcing Ukraine to divert troops from the battlefields in the south and east to the north.
He said that recently a train filled with Russian soldiers stopped in a spot close to the Belarus-Ukraine border and returned, several hours later, with all of the passengers on board.
Pictured: A soldier of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion takes cover from artillery shelling on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine
Pictured: Smoke billows after Russian attacks in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 27, 2022
'They did it openly during the day, so that everyone would see it, even if [we] didn't want to,' he said, adding that he saw no significant, immediate threat from the troops in Belarus. '
'As of now, I don't see any signs of preparations for an invasion of Kyiv or northern areas from Belarus,' he added.
The interview in Mr Budanov's darkened office in Kyiv came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a trip to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, for the first time in more than three years.
His visit caused fears that he might try to persuade long-time ally President Alexander Lukashenko, to send troops from Belarus to Ukraine.
Mr Budanov believes society in Belarus will not get behind any further involvement in the conflict and analysts have questioned the level of preparedness of its 48,000-strong army.
'That's why President Lukashenko is taking all steps to prevent a disaster for his country,' he said.
Pictured: Soldiers of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion gather information on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine
Pictured: A mortar shell explodes as soldiers of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion evacuate a local resident from a basement with an armoured vehicle on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine
Since retaking Kherson, Ukraine's troops have been fighting heavily with Russian forces around Bakhmut, in trench warfare reminiscent of World War One.
For Russia, taking the city would sever Ukraine's supply lines
