This week, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, found himself at the center of a high-profile scandal after information emerged about his alleged words about threatening Ukraine’s existence without negotiations with Russia. Although the GUR and Budanov himself denied the allegations, the situation caused a significant public outcry.
The first reports about Budanov’s alleged words appeared on January 27. According to Ukrayinska Pravda, during a closed meeting of MPs and representatives of the Defense Forces, the head of the Main
Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, allegedly suggested threats to Ukraine’s existence if “serious negotiations” did not take place by the summer.
The publication cited this phrase as a reference to an unnamed MP who attended the meeting. However, MPs deny this interpretation of the intelligence chief’s words.
For example, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said that Budanov said that “if nothing is changed, the front may fall apart and there will be problems.” And the phrase that there are threats to the existence of Ukraine, he said, was not there.
In addition, one of the parliamentarians, Oleh Dunda, said on the Kyiv TV channel that the meeting was closed, so they had no right to disclose information from it.
Later, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine officially denied this information.
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine draws the attention of the media and the public to the fact that the alleged quote by the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine from a closed, classified meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is not true, – the statement said.
Kyrylo Budanov himself commented on the situation in a rather unusual way. Answering a journalist’s question, he told an anecdote about grandmothers discussing non-existent events, hinting that this story might be a fiction or a distortion of facts.
On January 31, it became known that the Security Service of Ukraine opened a criminal investigation into the alleged leak of the words of the head of the Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov. The investigation is ongoing under the article on disclosure of state secrets, which caused grave consequences (Part 2 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The scandal surrounding his statements has only increased attention to the figure of Budanov, who continues to play a key role in Ukraine’s security strategy.
Who is Kyrylo Budanov?
After graduation, in 2007, Kyrylo Budanov began serving in the Special Forces of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. In 2020, Kyrylo Budanov became Deputy Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.
But on August 5, 2020, he became the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion, in May 2022, he also headed the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. In July 2022, Budanov became the head of the Presidential Intelligence Committee.
Budanov’s wing also took part in combat operations. According to Ukrainian media, the head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine has been involved in repelling Russian aggression since 2014. Information about Budanov’s participation in special operations is mostly classified, but some of them have become known.
Among them is Operation Raid to Crimea, conducted from August 6 to 8, 2016. Then a group of five special forces landed on the territory of the temporarily occupied peninsula.
The group, headed by Kirill Budanov, wanted to deliver weapons and explosives to a specially prepared location near Russian military facilities. Ukrainian fighters had to engage in a battle with the Russian special group Vympel.
Then our special forces destroyed the enemy forces along with the Russian commander. At the same time, the group under Budanov’s leadership left the temporarily occupied Crimea without losses.
Also, the special units of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, led by Budanov, were involved in repelling Russia’s full-scale aggression after February 24, 2022.
In particular, the DIU soldiers successfully disrupted a large-scale landing operation of Russian invaders near the Gostomel airport, who later planned to enter and capture the capital of Ukraine.
When the encirclement of the Azovstal metallurgical plant began in March 2022, which was bombed by Russian troops, Budanov planned an air operation involving Ukrainian pilots and military intelligence officers.
Between March and May, seven helicopter flights took place to resupply ammunition, medicine, communications equipment, new forces, and evacuate the seriously wounded.
According to Ukrainian media reports, in April 2022, Budanov also personally participated in a reconnaissance operation to liberate the village of Ruska Lozova in Kharkiv region.
In 2022, the DIU fighters took part in the battles for the further de-occupation of Bucha, Irpin, Kapitanivka and Dmytrivka, and they also held the defense of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk region.
According to open sources, it was Kyrylo Budanov who planned the operation to liberate the so-called Boyko towers and Zmeinyi Island, which eventually made it possible to return the Black Sea shipping corridor to Ukraine’s control.
It also became known that Kurylo Budanov had survived more than 10 attempts on his life since 2014.
According to the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, Russians have attempted many times to assassinate the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine in recent years. Among them was a missile attack on the DIU office during a full-scale war.
At the end of November 2023, it also became known that the wife of the DIU’s chief, Marianna Budanova, and a number of other Ukrainian military intelligence officers were poisoned with heavy metals. According to media reports, Budanov’s wife showed symptoms of poisoning more quickly due to her low weight.
Later, Kyrylo Budanov himself said that he knew who was involved in the poisoning of his wife. He then announced retaliatory actions on Russian territory.
At the same time, the head of the GUR does not assume that it was an attempt on his life, as he did not take the poison.
Kyrylo Budanov’s statements
2025 will definitely be better than this year (2024 – ed.). There are objective factors for this, and I hope that in 2025 we will see a lot of good events that will eventually bring us what we are all waiting for, – the DIU chief said in response to journalists’ questions.
We, as a country and a nation that pays an extremely high price in the struggle for our freedom, have no right to allow such mistakes and crimes to be repeated. We will be able to defeat the enemy and reliably protect Ukraine when we irreversibly change. The interests of the state must become the top priority for everyone, – Budanov said, commenting on the journalists’ investigation that Moscow is using bombers and missiles to strike Ukraine, which Kyiv had previously given in exchange for a gas debt. He emphasized that the country should not make such mistakes in the future.
In my opinion, the most absurd fake was when last year (2023 – ed.) they said that I was killed. Photos of me with the Japanese ambassador appeared, and then they (Russians – ed.) disassembled it, and a photo with such attributions was circulated online: “He has such a tilt here, ‘There is no shadow here, – Kyrylo Budanov said about the most absurd fake that Russian propaganda created against him.
Mr. Budanov also said that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died of natural causes.
I may disappoint you, but what we do know is that he did die of a blood clot. And this is more or less confirmed. This is not taken from the Internet, but, unfortunately, it was a natural (death), – Budanov told reporters.
Conclusion
Despite the information attacks, Kyrylo Budanov remains one of the main people working on the defense and protection of Ukraine. His determination, ability to analyze the situation and defend the state’s interests make him a figure that attracts attention not only in Ukraine but also abroad. He is still one of the most reliable sources of information on the military situation at the front, despite the possible fakes that appear in the information space.
Kateryna Yashchuk
