Russia is preparing for war with NATO — Budanov

The number one task of Russia's rearmament program is to prepare it for war with NATO by 2030. This was stated by Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in an interview with "Moseichuk+".

Asked about his recent statement that Russia plans to spend about $1.1 trillion on rearmament by 2036, which looks like the largest arms program since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Budanov noted:

Not even since the collapse, this is the largest program since 1980. The number one task, spelled out in this systemic document, is to prepare the Russian Federation for war with NATO by 2030. This is what all actions and all budgets are aimed at.

Kirill Budanov

Head of the GUR

According to him, the bulk of the amount should be spent by approximately 2030, and "after that, everything will start to decline."

Budanov added that in Russia's rearmament program, the question is not whether to make more tanks or better missiles.

The question is to be ready for the 30th year of this war. And everything else is already derivative. So, for the war we need more tanks, better missiles and so on. First of all, there are strategic issues.

Earlier, the Financial Times, citing an analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics, noted that Russia had practically exhausted its stockpiles of Soviet weapons, using them during a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.