Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday that his country’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, would run Kyiv’s presidential office, placing one of Ukraine’s most popular figures at the heart of its war strategy and political apparatus.
Budanov, 39, accepted the post that is roughly equivalent to White House chief of staff, calling it an “honour and a profound commitment, especially at this decisive moment in our country’s history, to focus on issues critical to Ukraine’s strategic security” in a statement on X.
The decorated lieutenant general has led Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence since August 2020 and become a household name for masterminding covert operations deep behind Russian lines.
Budanov’s appointment continues Zelensky’s pivot to staffing his administration with security and military figures from the civilian operatives who dominated Ukraine’s politics before Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s intelligence services released a video of Budanov speaking to Denis Kapustin, a far-right Russian militant and key enemy of Vladimir Putin, after pulling off an elaborate scheme faking Kapustin’s assassination by drone.
The scheme succeeded in getting the Kremlin to unwittingly pay Ukraine a $500,000 bounty — before revealing Kapustin’s survival. Kapustin founded the anti-Putin Russian Volunteer Corps, which was set up in 2022 and later carried out raids into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions.
Budanov also led the Ukrainian intelligence services through “Operation Spider Web,” in which Ukraine deployed 117 drones near five military airfields deep inside Russian territory, destroying more than a dozen nuclear-capable long-range bombersand damaging two dozen other Russian aircraft.
In another intelligence feat, Budanov’s operatives took a page out of Mossad’s playbook in February, planting explosive devices in Russian virtual reality (VR) goggles that exploded in the eyes of Moscow’s drone pilots, blinding and injuring dozens.
Budanov’s selection comes as Putin has attempted to stifle President Trump’s peace talks with Kyiv, lying to Trump Monday about an alleged attacked on one of his residences — which CIA officials said never happened — to excuse a hardened position on negotiations.
Trump seemed to confirm the CIA assessment on New Year’s Eve by sharing a link to The Post’s editorial arguing that Putin was likely fibbing about the alleged assault in an effort to derail peace negotiations.
Budanov’s appointment also came after Russia wounded at least 16 civilians in two missile strikes on residential area in Kharkiv — and as Kyiv’s foreign intelligence services warned Moscow will attempt to commit a large-scale “false flag” terror attack in the coming weeks using Western drones to “falsify evidence of Ukraine’s involvement.”
Andriy Yermak, Budanov’s predecessor, resigned this past November after his home was raided in a corruption. Yermak had led Kyiv’s negotiating team in hammering out details of a peace plan with the Trump administration.
No charges have been filed against Yermak, who exclusively told The Post he would head to the “frontlines” to join Ukraine’s war effort.
Since Yermak’s departure, Ukraine’s national security advisor, Rustem Umerov, has led the Kyiv delegation in the talks. It was unclear Friday whether Umerov would take a back seat to Budanov.
Budanov will be succeeded in his intel post by Oleh Ivashchenko, who previously led Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
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