President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday appointed Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the country’s military intelligence agency, as his new chief of staff, filling a weekslong vacancy left by the resignation of Mr. Zelensky’s right-hand man over a corruption scandal.
The departure in November of the top aide, Andriy Yermak, who had also served as Kyiv’s lead peace negotiator, cleared the way for a political overhaul that had been long deferred by the war. But it also left Mr. Zelensky without his main enforcer at a delicate moment in talks with the United States over ending the war with Russia.
The appointment of Mr. Budanov, 39, moves one of Ukraine’s highest-profile generals into a political role as the country starts to discuss the possibility of elections if a cease-fire can be reached with Moscow. It also removes a celebrated spymaster from his post, shaking up Ukraine’s intelligence leadership.
Mr. Budanov has been seen as a potential rival to Mr. Zelensky as the United States and Russia call for elections in Ukraine. Being a member of the presidential office could complicate any run by Mr. Budanov for the presidency.
In announcing his appointment, Mr. Zelensky said that Ukraine “needs greater focus on security issues,” the development of its defense and security forces and further progress on the diplomatic track of negotiations.
“Kyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to deliver results,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on social media.
In his own online post, Mr. Budanov said his new role was “an honor and a responsibility at a historic time for Ukraine.”
Mr. Budanov has a strong relationship with the United States, which could be important in Ukraine’s peace negotiations with the Trump administration. He was trained as part of a C.I.A.-backed program, and after he was injured fighting in eastern Ukraine, he received treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, a rare accommodation for a Ukrainian soldier.
Mr. Zelensky appointed Mr. Budanov as his military intelligence chief in 2020. By then, at just 34, he already had a reputation for audacious covert operations that occasionally pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable to Ukraine’s leadership and its Western allies. Under his leadership, the military intelligence service, known as the H.U.R., has carried out assassination and sabotage missions behind enemy lines, including on Russian territory.
In 2016, he led a team of commandos into the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, where they planned to plant explosives at an airfield. When Russian fighters caught them, Mr. Budanov’s unit fought back, killing several Russians, including the son of a general. The Ukrainians had to swim back to Ukrainian-controlled territory, but suffered no losses.
The operation incensed the White House, which feared provoking Russia, and prompted an angry rebuke from Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was then vice president.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Mr. Budanov has become one of the best-known figures of the war — despite the fact that he has been responsible largely for covert operations.
His stone-faced expression has inspired memes about Ukraine’s steely resolve, and the Kremlin has included Mr. Budanov’s name on its list of foreign terrorists.
Mr. Budanov has also maintained contacts with the Russian side as part of his mandate to negotiate prisoner exchanges — unique among Ukraine’s senior leadership.
It was not immediately clear who would replace Mr. Budanov as the head of the H.U.R.
Andrew E. Kramer and Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting.
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