Military intelligence chief has been credited with a series of daring operations against Russia since it launched its invasion.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff as Ukraine and the United States work on a 20-point plan<\/a>\u00a0that could end Russia\u2019s war.<\/p>\n \u201cUkraine 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, and the Office of \u200bthe President will primarily serve the \u200cfulfillment of these tasks of our state,\u201d Zelenskyy said on X on Friday.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cKyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to deliver results,\u201d \u200che added.<\/p>\n The new post for the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defence was announced at a key moment in the nearly four-year war with Russia after Zelenskyy announced on Wednesday that the US-brokered deal to end the conflict was \u201c90 percent\u201d ready<\/a>.<\/p>\n Budanov has been credited with a series of daring operations against Russia since it launched an all-out assault against Ukraine in 2022. The 39-year-old has run the GUR since being \u2060appointed to the post by Zelenskyy in August 2020.<\/p>\n A career military intelligence officer, Budanov rose through the defence establishment after Russia\u2019s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.<\/p>\n Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Budanov has become a prominent face of Kyiv\u2019s intelligence effort, regularly appearing in interviews and briefings that mix strategic signalling with psychological pressure on Moscow.<\/p>\n He has frequently warned of Russia\u2019s long-term intentions towards Ukraine and the region, while portraying the war as an existential struggle for the country\u2019s statehood.<\/p>\n Budanov said he had accepted the nomination and would \u201ccontinue to serve Ukraine\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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,\u201d he said on Telegram.<\/p>\n Procedures to formally appoint him as the president\u2019s chief of staff have been launched, Zelenskyy\u2019s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy also announced that Foreign Intelligence Service chief Oleh Ivashchenko will replace Budanov as head of the GUR.<\/p>\n