MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. Ukraine’s recent attempt to seize a drilling rig in the Black Sea may illustrate a hidden conflict among Ukraine’s top brass, Former Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officer Vasily Prozorov has told TASS.
In his words, the failed attack might be a result of infighting between the chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kirill Budanov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists in Russia) and Ukrainian armed forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky. By staging highly publicized operations of this kind, Budanov "is fighting for the top spot in the Ukrainian media landscape," the expert said.
"Don’t you think that it [the attack] might be a symptom of infighting between Budanov and Syrsky? Let me explain my point of view. All attempted raids on the Russian territory in 2023 and 2024 by [Ukraine’s nationalist organization] Russian Volunteer Corps [banned in Russia] were carried out by Kirill Budanov’s subordinates. They all were operations of the Main Intelligence Directorate," he said. "They gave him some sort of media recognition and popularity."
"Other explanations seem plausible, too. For example, it [the assault] could be aimed at forcing our fighter jets to perform missions in this region of the Black Sea, so that they could be ambushed by US-made F-16 fighter jets - again, for media purposes," the expert added.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said its Black Sea forces have thwarted an attempt by the Ukrainian Navy to seize the Krym-2 oil-drilling platform in the Black Sea in the early hours of Wednesday. In its words, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry dispatched 14 US-supplied Willard Sea Force speedboats with troops from the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine’s Navy. In combat with Black Sea forces and Russian servicemen, eight sea motor boats were sunk and up to 80 servicemen from the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces were wiped out.