Kiev to 'keep killing Russians anywhere on face of world': Spy chief
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The Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson says declarations of the Ukrainian intelligence chief Kirill Budanov are proof that the US President Joe Biden's administration is "sponsoring terrorism".
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Major General Kirill Budanov, chief of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine, June 25, 2022 (Reuters)
In an interview for Yahoo News, conducted last month but only published earlier this week, General Kirill Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, admitted that the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) has coordinated and will continue its campaign targeting and murdering Russians "anywhere on the face of this world."
It is worth noting that Budanov was charged by a Moscow court with terrorism after he was linked to a series of attacks against Russia, including sabotage and terrorism. Most peculiarly, Budanov's GUR was found responsible for a foiled attempt to assassinate top Russian officials in Crimea.
At some point in the interview, Budanov announced that what Russia called “terrorism, we call liberation,” only to go on to explain that the GUR has targeted Russian individuals anywhere across the globe.
Read more: Ukraine military intelligence behind Crimea bridge attack: FSB
When asked about the GUR's involvement in the assassination of Russian journalist Darya Dugina, Budanov said, “Don’t continue with that topic,” adding, “All I will comment on is that we’ve been killing Russians, and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.”
To that statement, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel, that Budanov's statements are a "direct blow to the White House." Given that Budanov, the intelligence chief of a US ally, boldly declared taking part and ordering acts of terrorism, "the Kiev regime has declared that the Biden administration is sponsoring terrorism."
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said Kiev attempted to strike the Kremlin residence of the Russian President with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Tuesday night -- a charge which Kiev has denied.
"Decisions on such attacks are not made in Kiev, but in Washington," Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a briefing, adding that "Kiev only does what it is told to do."
"Washington should understand clearly that we know this," he stressed.
Peskov slammed the attempts by Kiev and Washington to disown the attempted drone attack on the Kremlin as ridiculous.
Read more: Putin to give Victory Day speech as usual despite UAV attack: Kremlin
