KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday appointed Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the director of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, to head his presidential office, prioritizing battlefield knowledge and public popularity amid intense U.S. pressure on Kyiv for a peace deal with Russia. The pick also seeks to dispel concerns over the corruption scandal that ousted the previous top aide, Zelensky’s close friend Andriy Yermak.
“Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues, the development of the Defense and Security Forces of Ukraine, as well as the diplomatic track in negotiations, and the Office of the President will primarily serve the fulfillment of these tasks of our state,” Zelensky said in his announcement.
The job, effectively Ukraine’s equivalent of the presidential chief of staff, has been unfilled since Yermak, who had wielded extraordinary power across all aspects of the government, resigned in November just hours after anti-corruption investigators raided his apartment as part of a widening probe into Zelensky’s inner circle. The investigation threatened to plunge the wartime leader into political peril.
Yermak, who had no political experience and was appointed in 2020 after working with Zelensky at his production studio, was despised by many Ukrainians who accused him of holding undue influence and operating with an extremely heavy hand. Many in Washington also saw Yermak as pugnacious and controlling, describing him a hurdle to cooperation. He has essentially disappeared from public life since stepping down.
Budanov, 39, makes for a significantly different character.
As a soldier, he was wounded several times during the first phase of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which began in 2014. And he has been credited with participating in, and more recently with directing, daring operations behind enemy lines.
Budanov took over his role as the head of the military intelligence agency, known as GUR, in 2020. Famous for his cold stare and his accurate prediction of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, he has emerged in wartime as one of the most trusted and patriotic leaders in Ukraine — making him one of the biggest threats to Russia, which repeatedly has tried to kill him.
Budanov is also widely viewed as having political ambitions, although his focus has remained on the front line and countering Russian influence abroad, including by deploying troops under his command to Africa to engage with Russian mercenaries. Perhaps most importantly, he has not been implicated in any corruption scandals.
“I see the position of Head of the Office of the President as another line of responsibility to the country,” Budanov wrote on Telegram, announcing that he had accepted the job. “For me, it is both an honor and a responsibility — at a historic moment for Ukraine — to focus on critically important issues of our state’s strategic security. Thank you for your trust!”
Budanov’s appointment “means that Zelensky is concerned about their negotiations with Russia and their war strategy in the future and their security, including probably even his personal security when it comes to a transition of power and possible things like an election or whatever may happen,” said Olena Tregub, a civil society activist and secretary of NAKO, a nongovernmental anti-corruption commission.
Budanov was understood to have conflict with Yermak, signaling that “Zelensky can choose people who have different approaches,” Tregub added. “Hopefully, the power of Budanov will be, indeed, more limited to … matters that are related directly to the president and, of course, focusing on the issue of the war,” she said.
One former senior Ukrainian official said he believes that Budanov is more essential in his current role at GUR, but that the appointment indicates that Zelensky is “looking for another Yermak-style, strong individual” to serve in a role more akin to a vice president than a head of office. (In Ukraine, the speaker of parliament is first in line of presidential succession.)
Budanov will differ Yermak, however, in several key ways, including that he “has a chance to become a successor,” the former official said. The official expressed hope that Zelensky, who has signaled he will not serve another term after the war is over, had “calculated the risks and decided to live with this.”
Zelensky could even see Budanov as “a first step toward a ‘successor’ project with some personal guarantees attached,” the former official said — or a chance to “burn down his most promising competitor.”
Olexiy Haran, a political analyst, said that public trust in Budanov is key to his appointment but what remains to be seen is how he will mesh with other key figures in the office as he adjusts to a new role. “He’s a manager, high manager of intelligence sphere,” Haran said. “What about other things — economy, regional politics?”
Stern reported from Mukachevo, Ukraine. Serhiy Morgunov contributed to this report from Potsdam, Germany.
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