It will be harder for Ukraine to recapture Donbas, temporarily occupied by Russia, than Crimea, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview with French Liberation, Ukrayinska Pravda reports.
He explained that the Russian invaders have established a continuous supply line in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and "their troops can access it from any direction".
As for the peninsula, "everyone who once controlled Crimea declared loudly and clearly that Crimea was an impregnable fortress, and absolutely everyone lost this fortress".
"Just like Ukraine did 10 years ago. Today, the Russians still have a land corridor to Crimea. The Crimea bridge is still standing, but it won't live long," Budanov said.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence added that two strategic tasks need to be solved in order to liberate the peninsula. The first is to cut off the land corridor and destroy the Crimea bridge.
"The rest is just a matter of time. The peninsula will be returned. Donbas is a more difficult story," Budanov said.
He believes that Russia, having lost Crimea, will not dare to escalate nuclear war.
"There have already been many reasons to use nuclear weapons, perhaps dozens. And what? In the Russian doctrine, nuclear weapons are seen as a 'deterrent'. This is what everyone is afraid of and what everyone is speculating on. But for Russia, it would be much more expensive to use nuclear weapons than not to use them," Budanov said.