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#KyryloBudanov  #CIA  #Mossad
x.com/DakdaR22/status/205668… – Quote
Kyrylo Budanov – Google Search  google.com/search?q=Kyrylo+B…
Budanov Statement Accuracy Assessed  gemini.google.com/share/8a39…
The quote provided in the tweet is not a single, recent statement by Kyrylo Budanov. Instead, it is a composite of heavily paraphrased, older statements that have been stitched together, stripping them of their original context.

Here is an assessment of the accuracy of the specific claims within the quote based on the military reality as of May 2026:

1. “Russia’s professional army ran out” (Mostly Accurate)
Budanov has repeatedly stated over the last few years that Russia’s original, pre-war professional army was effectively wiped out by the fall of 2022. This assessment is broadly corroborated by Western intelligence agencies and military analysts. The initial Russian invasion force suffered catastrophic casualties early in the conflict, forcing Moscow to radically shift its force generation strategy. Today, the Russian military relies heavily on ongoing mobilization, highly lucrative financial contracts to attract domestic and foreign volunteers, and the deployment of convict units.

2. “They have no strength” & “Russia’s defeat is a settled matter” (Inaccurate and Misleading Context)
This part of the quote heavily misrepresents the current state of the war and contradicts Budanov’s own recent intelligence assessments. While Budanov used rhetoric like “Russia’s defeat is a done deal” back in late 2022 during a period of high Ukrainian momentum, his tone in recent years has become significantly more pragmatic.

Continued Russian Capabilities: Budanov has openly acknowledged in recent interviews that Russia retains substantial mobilization potential and resources, allowing them to maintain immense pressure and slowly advance along various sectors of the front lines.
A Difficult Reality: Rather than claiming Russia has “no strength,” Budanov and other Ukrainian officials have been very vocal about the systemic difficulties Ukraine faces at the front, emphasizing that the war remains a massive, grueling struggle of attrition.
Shift to Peace Talks: As of May 2026, Budanov is actively serving as one of Kyiv’s top negotiators in back-channel peace talks with Moscow. The necessity of these negotiations underscores the immense pressure on Ukrainian forces and directly contradicts the notion that Russia is completely devoid of strength.

Conclusion
The tweet is highly misleading. By recycling morale-boosting soundbites from earlier phases of the war and presenting them as a current assessment, it paints an overly optimistic picture that ignores the incredibly difficult tactical and strategic reality Ukraine faces today. While Russia’s original professional army was indeed decimated early on, the Russian military adapted and remains a highly potent adversary capable of sustaining total war.

Interview on ending the war in Ukraine
This recent interview with Kyrylo Budanov provides insight into his current, pragmatic perspective on the war and his active role in back-channel peace negotiations.D.Radka, #NAFO 🇨🇿🤝🇺🇦 (@DakdaR22)”Russia’s defeat is already a settled matter, and they know it very well themselves.
      Russia’s professional army ran out..they have no strength..

      Even if the fighting continues, Russia’s future has changed,. forever.”

– Kyrylo Budanov🇺🇦—  https://x.com/DakdaR22/status/2056683897572733332

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

Kyrylo Budanov – Google Search  google.com/search?q=Kyrylo+B…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

Токаев провозгласил Казахстан наследником Золотой Орды  ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/0…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

Iran might face ‘another big hit’ if negotiations fail and tensions continue, Trump says  wlos.com/news/nation-world/i…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

#CIA  #FBI  #Mossad
Putin and Xi
x.com/mikenov/status/2056777…Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) #Russia– #China Summit: War’s Future  gemini.google.com/share/6aa6…
#Putin in Beijing – Google Search  google.com/search?num=10&new…—  https://x.com/mikenov/status/2056777283713527915

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

#Russia– #China Summit: War’s Future  gemini.google.com/share/6aa6…
#Putin in Beijing – Google Search  google.com/search?num=10&new…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

Russia-China Summit: War’s Future  gemini.google.com/share/6aa6…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

Putin in Beijing – Google Search  google.com/search?q=Putin+in…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

Sebastian Gorka, the 16-page memo – Google Search  google.com/search?q=Sebastia…
The 16-page memo refers to the U.S. National Security Council’s official counterterrorism strategy authored by Sebastian Gorka. Unveiled by the White House, the document sets a broad “Counterterrorism Strategy” that categorizes drug cartels, legacy Islamist groups (like ISIS), and domestic “violent left-wing extremists” as top national security threats. [1, 2, 3]
Key takeaways from the document:

Primary Targets: The strategy officially conflates violent non-state actors with domestic political and social groups, labeling some anarchists, anti-fascists, and “radically pro-transgender” factions as primary threats alongside jihadist groups.
Foreign Focus: It places a heavy emphasis on stopping drug cartels in the Americas and accuses Europe of becoming an “incubator” for terrorism due to open border and mass migration policies.
Omission of Right-Wing Threats: Civil rights groups and terrorism analysts have widely condemned the memo for completely omitting far-right and white supremacist violence—which federal law enforcement and researchers have previously identified as a leading domestic threat—focusing instead on political dissent.
Reactions: Security experts and watchdogs have heavily criticized the text as a “partisan polemic” and an exercise in gaslighting that blurs the line between legitimate domestic dissent and actual terrorism. [2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

To read the full criticism of the document’s framework, see The Guardian’s Analysis or explore the policy implications broken down by Defending Rights & Dissent.

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1]  aol.com/articles/white-house…
[2]  yahoo.com/news/articles/whit…
[3]  theintercept.com/2026/05/15/…
[4]  instagram.com/p/DYCV6mQlMt4/
[5]  msn.com/en-us/news/insight/r…
[6]  economist.com/united-states/…
[7]  mexc.co/news/1094971
[8]  theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
[9]  theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
[10]  san.com/cc/white-house-count…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026

#Counterterrorism  #Counterintelligence  #CIA
x.com/mikenov/status/2056762… – Quote
Trump’s Counterterrorism and CIA Overhaul  gemini.google.com/share/a82a…
Trump Overhauls Counterterrorism and CIA Strategy – Google Search  google.com/search?q=Trump+Ov…
AI Overview:
President Trump’s 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy significantly reframes U.S. security priorities. Spearheaded by National Security Council official Sebastian Gorka, the 16-page memo broadens the national security apparatus to target “narcoterrorists” and domestic “left-wing extremists” alongside traditional Islamist militants. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key components of the administration’s revised strategy include:

Narco-Terrorism Focus: The administration treats Latin American drug cartels as its top Western Hemisphere security threat. The strategy officially folds counter-narcotics into broader counterterrorism objectives, permitting direct military strikes against cartel operations and vessels.
New Domestic Targets: The policy explicitly directs federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to monitor and neutralize left-wing political groups and anarchists, naming groups like Antifa alongside violent secular activists.
Global Rebalancing: The U.S. is stepping away from long-term, large-scale troop deployments in regions like Africa, shifting instead to a decentralized model of targeted strikes, intelligence sharing, and local security partnerships.
CIA and Intelligence Overhaul: The administration’s overhaul features a major push against the traditional intelligence community, which the White House has frequently criticized as a “weaponized” political tool. By realigning the intelligence community, the CIA and related agencies are being pressured to abandon long-standing bureaucratic methodologies in favor of prioritizing the administration’s new domestic and hemispheric objectives. [1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

For a detailed analysis of how these changes impact the intelligence framework, read the Lawfaremedia Analysis. You can also review the full 2026 USCT Strategy (PDF) published by the White House.

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1]  lawfaremedia.org/article/tru…
[2]  propublica.org/article/trump…
[3]  instagram.com/reel/DYNzC2qFd…
[4]  theintercept.com/2026/05/15/…
[5]  reuters.com/world/us/trump-s…
[6]  facebook.com/firstpostin/pos…
[7]  npr.org/2026/05/07/g-s1-1206…
[8]  time.com/article/2026/05/06/…
[9]  ajc.com/opinion/opinion-trum…

Trump’s Counterterrorism and CIA Overhaul  gemini.google.com/share/a82a…
In May 2026, the Trump administration enacted a major overhaul of its national security apparatus with the release of the 2026 National Counterterrorism Strategy, alongside a heavily aligned 2026 Annual Threat Assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

This new framework represents a dramatic shift from both the Biden administration’s approach and Trump’s own first-term policies, broadening the traditional definition of terrorism and directing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the broader Intelligence Community (IC) to refocus their resources on hemispheric and domestic political threats.

Here is a breakdown of how the administration is reshaping counterterrorism and intelligence strategy:

Redefining the Terrorist Threat

The 16-page counterterrorism memo, spearheaded by senior National Security Council director Sebastian Gorka, officially categorizes the nation’s primary threats into three distinct groups:

Narcoterrorists and Transnational Gangs: In a marked departure from prioritizing overseas threats, the strategy elevates the Western Hemisphere to the top of the priority list. It officially classifies Latin American drug cartels (like the Sinaloa Cartel and Tren de Aragua) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), granting the military and intelligence agencies expanded powers to dismantle their financing, logistics, and border operations.
Violent Left-Wing Extremists: The administration reversed the Biden-era focus on far-right and white supremacist domestic terrorism. Instead, the strategy explicitly targets “left-wing extremists, including anarchists and anti-fascists,” (such as Antifa). The framework pledges to use counterterrorism tools to map these networks, track their funding, and dismantle them domestically.
Legacy Islamist Terrorists: While groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda remain on the list, the strategy specifically identifies the Muslim Brotherhood as the “progenitor” of modern jihadist movements and prioritizes degrading their influence globally.

Overhauling the CIA and Intelligence Community

The Trump administration has been highly critical of the intelligence apparatus, with the strategy memo castigating what it calls the “weaponization” of the IC by prior leadership. To force alignment, the administration is shifting how the CIA and other agencies operate:

Aligning with “America First” Priorities: On May 10, 2026, DNI Tulsi Gabbard released the IC’s Annual Threat Assessment, which formally restructured the intelligence community’s priorities to mirror Trump’s National Security Strategy. The immediate intelligence focus is now on Homeland defense—specifically border security, tracking transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and disrupting the flow of fentanyl precursors.
Targeting State-Sponsored Support: The CIA and broader IC are tasked with identifying and degrading covert lines of support provided to cartels and Islamists by foreign adversaries. This includes stepping up covert operations, offensive cyber campaigns, and intelligence gathering to intercept shadow fleet oil tankers and disrupt dual-use technology transfers.
A Shift from Capacity Building to Direct Action: Past strategies heavily emphasized training and building the capacity of foreign partners to fight terrorism locally. The 2026 framework largely abandons this in favor of direct, unilateral kinetic action (“we will find you and we will kill you”), economic sanctions, and covert operations.

Pushback and Criticism

This strategic overhaul has been highly controversial among civil society groups and some national security experts. Critics argue that designating domestic left-wing groups as terrorist threats blurs the line between national security and political opposition, potentially exposing justice-oriented and progressive nonprofits to heavy surveillance and criminal liability.

Furthermore, some intelligence analysts warn that by diverting limited counterterrorism resources toward border enforcement and Latin American cartels, the U.S. risks leaving fewer intelligence assets available to monitor complex threats from global jihadist networks and state adversaries like Iran, Russia, and China.Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) #CIA  #FBI  #Mossad
“Selective Approach” (M.N.)
thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com…
Trump Overhauls Counterterrorism and CIA Strategy – “Selective Approach” (M.N.) : The Trump administration has introduced a new counterterrorism strategy focusing on Mexican drug cartels and domestic political groups. This shift moves away from traditional priorities to target narco-terrorists and specific political organizations with the same intensity.  thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com…—  https://x.com/mikenov/status/2056762658204848248

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 19, 2026