He made these remarks during a national TV marathon.Responding to a question about the possibility of a “Georgian scenario” — a political pivot toward Russia — Budanov firmly rejected the idea.“As of now — no. Absolutely not. It’s impossible. Even if someone wanted to turn back toward Russia, it simply wouldn’t work. The events we are witnessing in our society confirm this once again,” he said.At the same time, the intelligence chief cautioned that if Ukraine fails to draw conclusions and initiate internal reforms, the consequences could be dire.“As I’ve said before: if we don’t change, and if we don’t start taking reality seriously, the outcomes could be very different — and not pleasant ones,” Budanov warned.A lesson from history — and stampsBudanov illustrated his point with a personal anecdote. A stamp collector in his spare time, he reflected on how many of the countries whose stamps he owns no longer exist.“Philately only emerged around 150 years ago, and most of my stamps are from the early 1900s. Looking through my collection, I realized that many of these countries no longer exist. And it wasn’t that long ago. So all this talk about ‘a country can’t just disappear because of certain events’ — that’s a lie. Even in Europe, around seven countries have ceased to exist. We need to seriously consider what we’re doing and where we’re heading,” he said.Budanov also stressed that Ukrainians must define their own strategic vision — rather than wait for one to be imposed from the outside.“We must clearly define for ourselves who we are and where we’re going. If we don’t, someone else will try to do it for us. It’s better to set our own strategic goal — and then choose the tools to achieve it. Otherwise, we risk becoming just another country featured on a postage stamp,” he concluded.Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s military intelligence, added that Russia’s imperial ambitions pose a threat not only to Ukraine but also to other nations — including Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.