Before war, Russians doubted whether to invade Ukraine – Ukraine's Defence Intelligence Chief
Russia had doubts two weeks before the war whether Ukraine was expecting the Russians to launch an invasion, and then decided it was, said Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).
Source: Budanov in Year.Kharkiv, a project by Dmytro Komarov
Quote from Budanov: "Two weeks before all these events started, there was an interesting meeting where they once again had a discussion about whether everything was ready. And there was a bit of uncertainty that everyone there [in Ukraine] was really looking forward to the Russian soldiers.
And they raised the question: 'Where have the funds been spent for so many years?'
And during the next meeting, they said: 'You know, everything is ready, we should go in'."
Details: Budanov clarified that all the funds allocated by Russia for the invasion of Ukraine were plundered.
The DIU chief also added that the Russians sincerely believed that "Kharkiv is a Russian city, and they are just waiting for liberators".
Background: On 30 September 2022, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed "agreements" on the annexation of the occupied territories to the Russian Federation and claimed that residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine are now "citizens of the Russian Federation".
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