‘Stay tuned. We’re coming to you.’ Ukraine Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov broadcasts statement on Crimean radio.
Two radio stations in the Russian-annexed Crimea broadcast the Ukrainian anthem, followed by a brief address from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov.
Both Ukrainian and Russian media sources confirm the broadcast, in which Budanov spoke (in Russian) to Ukrainians in the annexed regions:
Ukrainian citizens, this is Kyrylo Budanov. Ukraine is taking back all of its occupied territories. The Donbas and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea will be coming home forever. We are going to find every traitor to Ukraine, wherever they might be. All of them will be destroyed. I say to all the patriots: the time has come to act. Stay tuned. We’re coming to you. Glory to Ukraine!
RIA Novosti confirms that a number of Crimean radio stations had been hacked. Its local agency in the Crimea says Budanov’s broadcast aired in Alushta, Bilohirsk, Dzhankoi, and Sudak, though not in Sevastopol or Simferopol.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly insisted that Russia must withdraw from all occupied territories including the Crimea, annexed in 2014. In a recent interview with Forbes Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov premised peace on restoring Ukraine to its 1991 borders.
