Ukraine's Chief of Intelligence predicts the war will end this summer

When will the war in Ukraine end? There is talk of a stalemate, with no progress on either side. However, there are those who have already set a date for the end of the conflict.

The Ukrainian intelligence services have already been bold enough to mark the end of the war on the calendar. Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's Chief of Intelligence, predicts a victory for his country and the termination of the conflict before the end of the year.

Photo: Sky News

Kyrylo Budanov assured in an interview broadcast by Sky News that before the end of 2022 everything will be over. He even gives a more concrete forecast: from mid-August there will be a "turning point" and Russia will begin to withdraw.

Photo: Sky News

Kyrylo Budanov dared to state that Ukraine will succeed in "reestablishing Ukrainian power" in all their territories, including Donbas and Crimea.

The Ukrainian military points out that by the end of 2022 most of the fighting in Ukraine would be over. Although there could still be pockets of violence in the future.

The end of Vladimir Putin will come much earlier, according to Kyrylo Budanov, who claims the Russian President will be dismissed in the second half of August.

The reason for Putin's fall would be, in addition to the military, political and financial consequences of the invasion of Ukraine, his delicate state of health.

"Putin is in a very bad physical and psychological state. He suffers from several diseases simultaneously and one of them is cancer," said Kyrylo Budanov.

Photo: Sky News

The Kremlin has always denied that Putin has health problems and insists that the physical state of the Russian president is enviable. The contradictory information is also part of the war.

The truth is that Russian society is facing, due to economic sanctions, a complicated present and an even more difficult future. And that can erode Putin's power.

The economic blockade and the inability to sell gas or oil have greatly weakened the country's economic potential and this is one of the reasons Kyrylo Budanov refers to in predicting the end of Putin as president this summer.

Added to this is the global support for Ukraine and the criticism from most Western leaders of the military action carried out by a Russia that is increasingly isolated on the international political scene.

Kyrylo Budanov assures that the surrender of Azovstal, (the Mariupol steel plant standoff), will be the last victory achieved by the Russians on Ukrainian soil.

Kyrylo Budanov also criticized the Russian troops, calling them "hordes of people with weapons."

Time will tell if Kyrylo Budanov is correct. If at the end of August, as he has predicted, Putin is dismissed, the chances of the conflict coming to an end will quickly increase.

However, what happens in the Kremlin takes place behind an impenetrable wall. Hopefully, peace will come, but Kyrylo Budanov's optimistic predictions say more about his intention to lift the morale of his country, Ukraine, and demoralise the adversary. Things can be more complicated than they seem.