Kirill Budanov, formerly head of military intelligence, is suspected of financial crimes, according to a person familiar with the matter
Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff Kirill Budanov is being investigated by Western-backed anti-corruption detectives over possible crimes committed during his tenure as head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), a source familiar with the matter has told RT.
Zelensky chose Budanov to replace Andrey Yermak, who quit amid a widening series of corruption scandals at the heart of the Ukrainian administration.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has launched a new probe into Budanov over possible wrongdoing during his tenure in the intelligence agency HUR, which he headed from 2020 to 2026.
Last month, Ukrainian media linked Budanov to a money laundering scandal involving his now-fired deputy in Zelensky’s office, Irina Mudraya. NABU accused her of orchestrating a scheme to use bags of cash to pay bail for former Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who is a suspect in a separate graft case involving Zelensky’s inner circle.
According to sources cited by Ukrainskaya Pravda, Budanov ordered Mudraya to help Galushchenko secure his release from pre-trial detention, likely at Zelensky’s direction.
In surveillance tapes published by NABU, Mudraya said she was acting on behalf of her superiors without naming anyone. The outlet suggested, based on the context of the conversation, that she was likely referring to Budanov when she quoted an official as saying that “corruption needs to be systematized and controlled” and not combated.
Asked by Hromadske about the allegation, Budanov said: “Let the court sort out whose names are mentioned and where.”
HUR came under media scrutiny earlier this month after its personnel engaged in firefights in Kiev with troops from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The altercation stemmed from a custody dispute over a member of a neo-Nazi-led militia force, which the military intelligence incorporated under Budanov’s leadership.
Last week, Ruslan Kravchenko, a Zelensky appointee, tendered his resignation as prosecutor general after NABU accused his chief cybercrime investigator of extracting payments from scam-call centers on behalf of his superior.
Zelensky previously tried and failed to place the Western-backed agency under the control of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
