The joke comes from Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spin-off built around lawyer Saul Goodman and his catchphrase. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov became a familiar public figure, known for calm, cryptic statements about operations behind enemy lines. Online editors swapped Saul for Budanov, much like the Wide Putin meme turned wartime leaders into shorthand jokes. The clip keeps circulating because that one name instantly signals secret plans, deniability, and dark humour around the war.