“In football terms,” Ukraine is “72-75 minutes” into war with Russia – intel chief

Russia's war against Ukraine is now 72-75 minutes out of 90 if we use football terminology.

Kyrylo Budanov, defense intelligence chief at the Ministry of Defense, expressed this opinion in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

"Until all the events on the battlefield take place, it will still be at 72-75 minutes," he said.

The journalists asked Budanov whether Ukraine should await "overtime and a series of penalties." The intel chief clarified that only God could know the answer.

Budanov confirmed that Russia's military and political elites were already discussing the candidates for Russian dictator Putin's successor and noted that more than one candidate was under consideration. Still, he did not say what kind of candidates they were.

He also said there might be a "palace rebellion" in Russia, but we will not see it.

"At most, they will say that someone died of a heart attack, and someone was arrested because he turned out to be an agent of British intelligence, as it was in the 30s, remember? That's all already happened. During the Livonian War, many were executed as agents of the Livonian state. This dates back to the Middle Ages," said the head of defense intelligence.