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7 mins ago
A Ukrainian official hints that he may attack Russian territory
By Fred Pleitgen, Tim Lister, Mick Krever
Buildings damaged after missile strikes in the Shebekino city of Belgorod, Russia, on November 4.
(Photo: Vladimir Aleksandrov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The head of Ukrainian national security, Oleksiy Danilov, also hinted in his interview with CNN about his country's ability to attack Russia on its own soil, beyond occupied Ukraine.
"As for Russian territory, no one forbids us to destroy targets with Ukrainian-made weapons. Do we have such weapons? Yes, we do," Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said Monday.
Western countries have restricted Ukraine from attacking Russian territory with weapons donated by the West.
Although unexplained explosions have consistently occurred at strategic locations in Russia throughout the war, Ukraine has never publicly admitted responsibility for the attacks.
Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency, last month predicted "deeper and deeper" attacks inside Russia, far from the front lines, without acknowledging any Ukrainian role.
Budanov told ABC News in January that he was "very happy to see" attacks inside Russia, but could not "give [an] answer" until after the war as to whether Ukraine has played a role in those attacks.
"Do you think there will be more?" the journalist asked Budanov.
"I think so," he replied.
"Inside Russia? Inside Russia?" the journalist asked.
"More and more," he replied.
11 minutes ago
It's 'only a matter of time' before Ukraine receives US jets, official says
By Fred Pleitgen, Tim Lister, Mick Krever
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, speaks during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 7.
(Photo: Murad Sezer/Reuters)
Ukraine's top national security official told CNN he is confident Ukraine will eventually receive US-made F-16 fighter jets.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, told CNN in Kyiv on Monday: "It is only a matter of time before we receive the F-16s."
"There is no doubt that they will arrive. Unfortunately, in the meantime we are losing our people while we fight for our independence."
The F-16, first developed in the 1970s, is a highly maneuverable fighter jet, capable of carrying six air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles under its wings.
The F-16s would give Ukraine the ability, should it overcome its air defenses, to hit Russia with an American-made weapon far behind the front lines, even outside territory internationally considered Ukrainian.
In recent days, the West has promised to send battle tanks to Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to once again order fighter jets.
Publicly, however, Western leaders have avoided talking about sending fighter jets to Ukraine.
In an interview with CNN last month, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov: "I sent a card with my wish list to Santa Claus last year, and fighter jets [were] also on this wish list."
12 mins ago
A Ukrainian official claims that Russia plans to mobilize up to half a million additional soldiers
By Tim Lister, Maria Kostenko
Ukraine expects Russia to mobilize up to half a million additional troops in the coming months, according to a senior intelligence official.
Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, stated in an interview that "Russia is going to mobilize 300,000 to 500,000 people to carry out offensive operations in the south and east of Ukraine in the spring and summer of 2023. ".
"Those 500,000 are in addition to the 300,000 mobilized in October 2022," Skibitskyi said.
"This shows that Putin's Kremlin has no intention of ending this war. The Russian offensive may take place in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and possibly in the Zaporizhia region. Russian troops will go on the defensive in the Kherson region and in Crimea. This new wave of mobilizations will last up to two months."
Russian officials have consistently denied that another mobilization is planned.
But at a conference of Russian military chiefs in December, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed bolstering the armed forces by up to 1.5 million combat troops, from the current 1.15 million, over a three-year period. .
This was necessary "to ensure the resolution of problems related to Russia's military security," Shoigu said.
Skibytskyi also said that in early 2022, Defense Intelligence was aware that a "large-scale invasion was going to start in early February or a little later.... In January we saw troops from the Eastern Military District of Russia were beginning to arrive in Belarus," as well as preparations in Crimea, he said.
war in ukraine