Russian dictator Putin does not want to give up his position and give up his plans, so the war will be long-term. Since May, Russian troops have been entrenching themselves in the Kherson region: they are building several lines of defense, and mined bridges and roads. A representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Vadim Skibitsky, said this in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

Now the task of the Russian army is to surround the Ukrainian military in eastern Ukraine and reach the borders of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The Russian military directorate adjusts its plans on a monthly basis.

As Skibitsky noted, the Russian dictator will not abandon his plans, and it is possible that active hostilities will drag on until the end of the year.

"Putin is not abandoning his plans. This war will drag on. How protracted the active phase will be, it will be September month or it will be October, or it will be until the end of the year. It depends on our resistance, on the state of our defense forces and September 11 is the only voting day in Russia, they tie the possibility of a referendum or other events in the occupied territories to this date. October 7 is Putin's birthday, he is 70 years old and everyone will be talking about how the military will want to give him a gift. By the end of the year, the winter will be cold, and they say that Ukraine will go to the negotiation process," - said the representative of GUR.

Skibitsky added that various circles tried to convince Putin not to start a war, but it failed. He plans to lead the Russian Federation until the end of his days; the Russian president abandoned the "successor" scenario long ago.

"He trusts no one, he hears no one. He has his own plans concerning the restoration of the Russian empire, he stated this to the whole world. Foreign leaders tried to convince him, there were attempts to convince from the political beau monde, representatives of the economic bloc of the rf, oligarchs, but they did not succeed. The war he wants to wage, it will be long-lasting. This is a man who does not want to give up his position," Skibitsky explained.

That Russia plans to stay in southern Ukraine for a long time is evidenced by the fact that the Russian army is deploying a powerful grouping in the occupied territories. This is a combined grouping that includes a ground, air and naval component. They have created a system of logistic support, using captured railroads, ports and airfields for this purpose.

"Since the beginning of May the occupation troops began to strengthen their defenses. They are preparing appropriate engineering structures, not even one or two, but a third line of defense is being built. And this shows that the Russian Federation wants to stay for a long time," says a spokesman for the SMM.

Intelligence also records that the Russian army mines roads and bridges in the occupied territories. In order to occupy the defenses and prevent the Ukrainian army from counteroffensive actions. Such actions will definitely take place, the intelligence service assures.