The head of Ukraine’s intelligence service carries a gun to interviews with foreign journalists and tells about wartime intelligence issues, writes Reuters.
Weapons and military equipment cover the floor of Kyrylo Budanov’s office in Kyiv, and he says he has sources close to the Russian president. Budanov has created an atypical public image for the head of the intelligence service, which he does not hesitate to use to convey the necessary messages and intimidate Russia from afar.
Budanov stated in a conversation with Reuters that in today’s conditions, the spy boss cannot remain in the shadows and cannot do without appearing in public. “And all the next wars are going to look like this. In any country in the world. We can say that we’re setting a trend here.”
Since 2014, Ukraine has made its own conclusions about the need to convey a message about what is happening outside the country’s borders. The head of spies said that
Ukraine completely lost the information war in 2014. In the war that started in 2022, the Ukrainians acted differently,
and now Russia is the loser in the information war.
Since the Russian mercenary mutiny at the end of June, which highlighted the weaknesses of the Russian ruling system, Budanov has taken every opportunity to emphasize what Ukrainian spies know about their enemy. He told Reuters that the mutineers were moving towards the nuclear weapons base to obtain nuclear weapons the size of a backpack. Several Russian sources confirmed this information to Reuters.
In Budanov’s office, behind him, on the wall is a painting depicting the symbol of the agency he heads – an owl – clutching a bat in its claws, the symbol of the Russian intelligence service. Appointed in 2020, Budanov quickly became known and popular in society after the start of the war and is publicly portrayed as a behind-the-scenes genius in an effort to defend himself against Russia. Meanwhile, Russian media have called some of his remarks about killing Russians monstrous.
Russia has blamed the Ukrainian intelligence service for the murders of a pro-Kremlin blogger and a war-glorifying journalist,
but Kyiv denies involvement. The Moscow court has accused Budanov of terrorism.
The possible involvement of the intelligence service in the killing of enemies of the state has led to comparisons of the agency with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. Budanov does not dispute the analogy and points out that Ukrainians also destroy and will continue to destroy the country’s enemies.
Budanov started his military career as a soldier of the special task force, and after the annexation of Crimea, he served in eastern Ukraine, where he was wounded three times. Since taking office, there have been many attempts to kill Budanov, including a failed car bombing that killed the bomber himself.
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