The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, threatened total “guerrilla” warfare in Russian-occupied territory. He also warned Moscow was attempting to split his country into a divided state.
Budanov said that Ukraine was preparing a guerrilla war in any territory Russia continues to control. “The season of a total Ukrainian guerilla safari will soon begin,” he said.
The statement from the intel chief comes as the US is dumping billions of insurgency-style weapons into Ukraine. The American weapon’s shipments to Keiv included the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile that the CIA provided to the Afghan Mujahideen to use against the Soviet Army.
There is a long track record of influential foreign policy thinkers who suggested America would benefit from Russia fighting an insurgency in Ukraine.
The latest official to express the benefits of Ukrainian insurgency is US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl. He believes Russia would be weakened by the war in Ukraine. “I think with a high degree of certainty that Russia will emerge from Ukraine weaker than it went into the conflict. Militarily weaker, economically weaker, politically and geopolitically weaker, and more isolated,” Kahl said on Thursday.
The CIA has also spent several years training Ukrainians in insurgency tactics. The agency believed those it trained would be the leaders of the resistance if Russia invaded.
Budanov also accused Russia of trying to recreate a Korean split of Ukraine. “In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine,” he said.
Russia has demanded that Keiv recognize Moscow’s control over Crimea and the independence of the Donbas before it would end its assault. On Sunday, Zelensky indicated for the first time he may be willing to “compromise” with Russia over control of the Donbas. The two Donbas republics – Donetsk and Luhansk – have been at war with Keiv since 2014.
