Ukraine

must do everything to de-occupy the illegally annexed Ukrainian Crimea by Russia by the summer of 2023. 

This was stated by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with the Washington Post.

"We must do everything so that Crimea returns home by the summer," Budanov said. 

Answering the question whether he believes that the entry of Ukrainian troops into the occupied Crimea will prompt 

, Budanov said: "This is not true. And Crimea will be returned to us. I will tell you more: everything started in Crimea in 2014, and that's all will end."

According to the head of Ukrainian intelligence, if Putin goes for a nuclear strike, it will lead not just to Russia's military defeat, but to its disintegration.

"This is a scare tactic. Russia is a country from which you can expect a lot, but not outright idiocy. I'm sorry, but this will not happen. The task of a nuclear strike will lead not only to the military defeat of Russia, but to the disintegration of Russia. And they know this very well Budanov said.

It will be recalled that the former commander of the US forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said that

Ukraine will not be safe as long as Russia controls this peninsula.

Earlier, the Crimean Human Rights Group reported that since 2014,

for an attack on Ukraine.

After the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, the occupation authorities began to build military infrastructure and conduct conscription.

Read also:

• World news

• War in Ukraine

• News of Ukraine: video

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