Expect strikes 'deeper and deeper' into Russia, head of Ukraine military intelligence says

Further strikes deep in Russian territory should be expected, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, has told the US TV channel ABC .

He added that the attacks would come “deeper and deeper” inside of Russia, without specifically saying whether Ukraine would be behind them.

Budanov said he would only be able to comment on his country’s responsibility for the attacks after the war was over.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the 26 December attack on Russia’s Engels airbase, which is located more than 800 miles from the Ukrainian border, but Budanov admitted he was “glad to see it.”

Of his visit to Bakhmut along the frontline in the Donetsk region in late December, he told ABC: “Soldiers showed me a section where dead bodies are piled up like something you would see in a movie.

“There are hundreds of dead bodies just rotting away in the open field, in places they are piled on top of other bodies like makeshift walls, when Russian troops attack on that field they use those bodies for cover, like a shield. But it’s not working. There are actual fields of dead bodies there.”

Budanov said he expects fighting to be the “hottest” in March, adding that Ukraine is planning a major push in the spring.