Russia will attack Ukraine again from the north, Budanov says.

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Russia will soon once again attack Ukraine from the north, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview published July 13. Speaking to NV news outlet, Budanov refused to specify if he was talking about an offensive in the oblasts of Sumy or Chernihiv so as not to "provoke panic," but insisted indications were already present. "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. Budanov was answering a question about Russian plans reported in April to mobilize an additional 300,000 soldiers by June 1.

When asked how this could affect Russia's offensive plans, he said the situation "feels a bit like a joke to me." "For two years, when everyone was yelling that there was going to be a (new) attack from the north, we insisted it wouldn't happen. Nothing happened," he said.

"The moment we said there would be an attack from the north, everyone started questioning, 'Maybe it won't happen after all?' "It will! It is already happening," Budanov said.

While not saying where the new offensive might occur, Russia earlier this year opened a new front in the war on May 10 when it attempted to advance in Kharkiv Oblast.

Russia's move on Kharkiv has bogged down. But was it a failure? In the first half of May, Russia opened a new front to its war against Ukraine in dramatic fashion.

The two-pronged offensive on Kharkiv Oblast unfolded on the back of some of the most difficult months for Ukrainian forces, overstretched and depleted after a brutal winter and early spring campaign

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.

President Volodymyr 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.

Russia's advance toward key eastern highway threatens Ukraine's grip of Donetsk Oblast Outgunned and outmanned, Ukrainian soldiers struggling to hold the front line in a brutal, months-long Russian siege of Chasiv Yar are increasingly worried about their army's ability to protect their rear.

If key supply lines from the west are cut off and if troops to their south are overrun, they