Moment has come for Russia to collapse - Budanov

He said this in an interview with the American TV channel ABC News, Ukrinform reports.

"Borders can be changed. This is an artificially created mistake and, now, the moment has come for this country (Russia – ed.) to collapse,” Budanov said.

Budanov once again stated that Ukraine will take back the Crimean Peninsula and mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin's not-so-veiled nuclear threats and failed "winter offensive," the latter of which has seen minimal gains and heavy losses.

According to the chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence, everyone will see the results of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces in the near future.

"What will be the results of these actions (counteroffensive – ed.)? I think that, in the near future, everyone will see and feel it," he said.

Budanov also noted that Russia has the most to gain from the leak of secret U.S intelligence documents.

"Russia is the only beneficiary of this (leak – ed.)" Budanov said.

Budanov confirmed he spoke with his U.S. counterparts soon after the leak came to light.

"We have communication with relevant services in the U.S., and from literally the first few hours, we started to talk,” he said.

As reported, on April 13, the FBI arrested the 21-year-old leader of a gaming online chat group in which publications of what’s alleged to be top secret Pentagon documents initially appeared.

The New York Times published an article claiming that the Pentagon is investigating the leak of allegedly classified documents circulating on social media, which relate to plans for a counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.