Ukraine intel chief predicted Russia’s war. He says Crimea will be retaken.

Budanov’s forecast for this year is that Russia will focus on occupying more territory in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. A renewed offensive from its forces stationed north of Ukraine, in Belarus, is unlikely, he said, and just an attempt to distract and divide Kyiv’s troops. Carrying out a nuclear strike will result in not just a military defeat for Russia but the collapse of Russia. (CIA Director William J. Burns has said there is no intelligence suggesting Putin is sick.) Ukrainian officials, including Budanov, have not publicly claimed responsibility for the bridge attack or others deep into Russian-held territory.