Ukraine's military intelligence chief was a "little misunderstood" when it was reported last week that he believed Russia would soon once again attack from the north, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 15.
On July 13, Kyrylo Budanov was reported as making the prediction in an interview with NV news outlet, though he refused to specify if he was talking about an offensive in the oblasts of Sumy or Chernihiv, and did not specify when.
"If I start answering that question (of where the attack will be), we’ll provoke panic," he said. "Let's just say that there are problems, and they tend to get worse."
"There is no catastrophe, but it’s impossible not to see the problems. I’ve already told someone from the Western press: I won’t have much good news this year, unfortunately," Budanov said.
Speaking at a press conference on July 15, Zelensky said he called Budanov after he read the comments in the media.
"He said that he was a little misunderstood," Zelensky said in comments reported by Ukrinform, adding: "That is, we understand that offensives can occur. We are at war with the Russians, and an offensive can occur."
Zelensky said that in his Ukraine's Armed Forces opinion, the most difficult sitation is in the east and efforts had been made to prevent another offensive in the north.
"We believe that serious work has been done in the Kharkiv Oblast to make a powerful offensive from the north impossible," he said.
"Given that it was stopped there, this stop dragged (Russian) troops there from different sectors who were standing along our border, and this made it impossible for them to have a strong group in other sectors."
Russia on May 10 opened a new front in the war when it attempted to advance in Kharkiv Oblast.
It was effectively bogged down in just about two weeks, with Ukrainian forces counterattacking near the border town of Vovchansk.
European Pravda reported on June 13 that according to its undisclosed NATO source, Russian losses in the offensive have been "astronomical."
The source estimated that "Russia likely suffered losses of almost 1,000 people a day in May," potentially indicating even higher numbers than those presented by the Khortytsia group.
Zelensky said in an interview published on May 25 that Russia's losses during the offensive were eight times higher than those suffered by Ukraine's Armed Forces.
The figures could not be independently verified.
Chris York
