Fighting in Ukraine is at a deadlock, says Ukrainian spy chief

The head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency has told BBC that fighting in Ukraine is currently at a deadlock since neither Russia nor Kyiv can make major advances. He said that Ukraine is waiting for more advanced weapons from Western allies.

"The situation is just stuck," Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC in an interview. "It doesn't move."

He further said that Russia has suffered significant losses and was "now completely at a dead end". Budanov believes that Kremlin is considering another mobilisation of conscripts.

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Talking about the situation with Ukrainian forces, he said they still lacked resources to move forward in multiple areas and are waiting for new supplies.

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"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."

Ukrainian troops recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November. Currently, the fiercest battles are raging around Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region. However, the winter has slowed down operations considerably, he said.

Russia has suffered setback on various fronts in the past few weeks. It has been attacking Ukraine's power grids leading to blackouts amidst the intense cold. Ukrainian officials believe that Moscow will launch a new ground operation in 2023 from Belarus and will try to capture Kyiv. They also think that tens of thousands of reservists are being trained in Russia for the massive operation.

However, Budanov doesn't think that Russia is planning activities in Belarus, including the movement of thousands of troops.

He also told BBC that recently a train full of Russian soldiers stopped close to the Belarus-Ukraine border and returned several hours later with everyone on board.

"They did it openly during the day, so that everyone would see it, even if [we] didn't want to. As of now, I don't see any signs of preparations for an invasion of Kyiv or northern areas from Belarus," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently travelled to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, for the first time in over three years. The visit led to the speculation that he might try to persuade President Alexander Lukashenko to send Belarusian troops to Ukraine.

Budanov, however, believes Belarusians will not support any further involvement in the war.

(With inputs from agencies)

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