Ukraine's spy chief Budanov announces new raids by Russian volunteer fighters

Russian rebels fighting on the side of Ukraine will continue their raids on the border territories of the Russian Federation, said the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with The Washington Post.

Military intelligence proposed a plan aimed at reducing Russian potential. In particular, new cross-border attacks by Russian volunteers operating inside the Russian Federation with the support of the Defense Intelligence are planned.

"[The plan] encompasses a lot of aspects, like the military industry … critical military targets, their airfields, their command-and-control posts," Budanov said.

The purpose of this plan, as the head of the DIU stated, is to show that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin cannot "protect the population from the war getting into Russia."

"When you’re sitting, say, in St. Petersburg, and you’re seeing the war only on TV, you will always be supportive. … But people start to get nervous when some facility [is attacked] near their house," he stressed.

On March 12, a new operation by military units opposed to the current regime began in the Russian Federation, including the Russian Freedom Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps, and the Siberian Battalion.

Ukraine's spymaster Budanov claimed that the Russian rebels "are not going to finish in the near future" and "they have enough strength."

On March 17, the Siberian Battalion announced that, together with the RVC, it liberated the village of Kozinka in Belgorod Oblast of the Russian Federation from the Russian army.

On March 25, the Russian rebels announced that since March 12, they had killed 452 "Kremlin mercenaries" and wounded another 784 – and that's only within Belgorod.