By 2023, the professional Russian army was decimated, and now they are fighting with mobilized troops, according to Budanov.

This was reported in an interview with Ukrinform by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov.

“How do I assess their current state? The professional army was destroyed by around 2023, and now Russia is fighting with mobilized troops. Although formally they are all contract soldiers, the approach is the same; a person is taken, at most two weeks – and they are at the front. They are fighting purely by numbers,” he stated.

Budanov also acknowledged that the Russians are “moving forward” on the front, but certainly not at the pace they had hoped for.

“We shouldn’t deceive ourselves; unfortunately, we must admit that since 2022, this is merely a statement of fact. Look at the map from February 21, 2022, and compare it to today – to say that they have achieved nothing is untrue. They are making progress; it is absolutely not at the pace they expected. Yes, in most areas, we have managed to stop them, and they have had success in certain areas permanently. Thus, they rightly understand that this war is detrimental to them just as it is to us, but they have the potential to move forward,” noted the head of the GUR.

Budanov added that the human potential and mobilization resources of the Russian Federation enable them to advance on the front.

Speaking about Russia's further objectives, the head of the GUR stated that they remain unchanged (the capture of as much Ukrainian territory as possible – ed.), but the fact that “Kyiv in three days” has turned into the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion indicates that “something went wrong.”

In particular, the battles in Hostomel, Moschun, and Irpin at the beginning of the full-scale invasion thwarted Russia's plan for the special military operation “Kyiv in three days.”

As reported by Ukrinform, the defense of Kyiv lasted from February 24 to April 2, 2022.

The Russian Federation launched an offensive on the capital with columns of armored vehicles from three directions. The resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine disrupted these intentions. Enemy troops established themselves along the line of Makariv-Horenychi-Bucha-Demydiv.

Attempts by the enemy to seize Hostomel Airport near Kyiv were thwarted. An attempt to land troops by planes at the airfield in Vasylkiv was also repelled. This made it impossible to swiftly capture the capital as planned by the Kremlin.

On the evening of April 2, 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian forces had liberated Kyiv Oblast from Russian invaders. At that time, the last enemy units were expelled from Bucha, Hostomel, and Borodyanka.