Ukraine’s Zelensky names spy chief Budanov as new top aide

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan 2 named military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as the new head of his office, after his previous top aide resigned
in November over a corruption scandal.

General Budanov, 39, has built up a legendary reputation in Ukraine, credited with a series of daring operations against Russia since it launched an all-out assault against its neighbour in 2022.

“I had a meeting with Kyrylo Budanov and offered him the role of the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said on social media.

The nomination comes at a key moment in the nearly four-year war, with Mr Zelensky announcing on Dec 31 that a US-brokered deal to end the conflict was “90 per cent” ready.

“At this time, Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues, the development of the Defence and Security Forces of Ukraine, as well as on the diplomatic track of negotiations,” Mr Zelensky said.

“Kyrylo has specialised experience in these areas and sufficient strength to deliver results.”

Gen Budanov said he had accepted the nomination and would “continue to serve Ukraine”.

“It is an honour and a responsibility for me to focus on critically important issues of strategic security for our state at this historic time for Ukraine,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Procedures to formally appoint him as the President’s chief of staff have been launched, Mr Zelensky’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists.

When appointed, Gen Budanov will replace Mr Andriy Yermak, who resigned in November after investigators raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe.

Mr Yermak was Mr Zelensky’s most important ally, but a divisive figure in Kyiv, where opponents said he had accumulated vast power, gate-kept access to the President and ruthlessly sidelined critical voices.

The four-year conflict, the deadliest on European soil since World War II, has killed tens of thousands and ravaged swathes of Ukrainian territory. AFP