Failed attempts to kill Putin, Crimea bridge to be destroyed
There have already been assassination attempts on Vladimir Putin, but they have been unsuccessful, said the head of Ukrainian military intelligence HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, to the portal Novoye Vremya on Saturday. "Russians have a fear of losing him because he is the guarantor of their life stability," he added. Budanov also spoke about the destruction of the Kerch Bridge.
Asked if he knew about any assassination attempts on Putin, Budanov responded: "There have been attempts to kill Putin, but as you can see, they have also failed so far."
To the question about the "assassination attempt on Putin," Budanov mentioned his grandmother's stories about Stalin's death. "She said that people then felt that their whole world had collapsed, they didn't know how to live. Putin has been in power for more than 20 years, so it will be a very similar feeling," assessed the military official.
"Russians have a fear of losing him because he is the guarantor of their life stability."
Budanov had talked about assassination attempts on Putin already in May 2022. One of the attempts reportedly happened at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "There was an attempt to assassinate Putin… He was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not so long ago. This is non-public information. [It was an] Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened… It was about 2 months ago," Budanov explained on the Ukrainian Pravda website.
The Ukrainian portal reminded readers that the latest assassination attempt on Budanov himself was carried out at the beginning of May.
Bridge to Crimea to be destroyed
Budanov also spoke about the change in the position of the Russian Minister of Defence - Andrey Belousov replaced Sergey Lavrov. According to Budanov, the main goal of this change is, among other things, the greatest possible optimisation of military expenditures.
Budanov assessed that Russians perceive Belousov as a purely pro-Western person. He has repeatedly said that the West is a friend of Russia and that everything that is happening in relations (West-Russia) in Ukraine is a terrible mistake that needs to be fixed. He is needed to establish some communication and to be a negotiator in relations with the West, and, unfortunately, he has had some success in this.
Moreover, the head of Ukraine's defense intelligence believes that the Kerch Bridge, connecting the illegally annexed Crimea with Russia, is an unnecessary engineering construction in the Russian-occupied south of Ukraine.
It is a symbol, much more important than the destruction of even 60 railway wagons with military equipment. There are thousands of these vehicles, but the bridge is only one, says Budanov.
"The bridge must be destroyed," he declared.
As he emphasized, Crimea is no longer an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for Russia; it has become "uncomfortable territory." In his opinion, Russians do not need the bridge in a practical sense, but it is "part of the skeleton of the empire."
Budanov concluded that they have fought and will continue to fight, perhaps for a long time, but the future of Ukraine will be very interesting. It cannot be otherwise.
