Budanov, who will turn 40 this Sunday, says he was the target of more than a dozen assassination attempts by Russian special forces, some of them before February 24, 2022
This Friday, the Ukrainian president chose Kyrylo Budanov, until then leader of the Ukrainian military secret (HUR), to lead his presidential cabinet.
Budanov’s appointment comes more than a month after Andriy Yermak, former head of the presidential office and friend of Volodymyr Zelensky, resigned following searches of his office by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
Born in Kiev in 1986, Budanov spent his entire career at HUR, which he joined in 2007 after completing his degree at the Odessa Military Academy.
From 2014 until the large-scale invasion in 2022, Budanov participated in the war in Donbass, where he was injured on several occasions, and also in secret operations in Crimea, a peninsula occupied by Russia for around 12 years.
The now leader of Zelensky’s cabinet, who will turn 40 this Sunday, says he was the target of more than a dozen assassination attempts by Russian special forces, some of them before the invasion on February 24, 2022.
Budanov was promoted to leader of HUR in August 2020. He is considered primarily responsible for orchestrating attacks on Russian soil against refineries, ports and senior military commanders.
Budanov already had an almost legendary status in the world of espionage, but since Russia launched its “special military operation” he has demonstrated what his organization is capable of. A member of HUR (the acronym by which the Ukrainian secret services are known) described his superior as someone “restrained, measured and never panicking”, with the ability to make others do whatever he asks. Brigadier General Dmytro Timkov has known Budanov for many years and has participated in “dozens of operations” with him. He recalls a young soldier who had no problem challenging his superiors if he thought they were wrong.
Following the Kerch bridge attack of October 8, 2022, Moscow issued an arrest warrant for Budanov. He is one of the Kremlin’s main targets and that makes him proud. “I am satisfied. This is a good indicator of our work, and I promise to work even better,” said Budanov,
Russian persecution even extends to his family members. In November 2023, his wife, Marianna Budanova, was hospitalized after being poisoned by heavy metals, probably ingested during a meal. Several HUR members also showed symptoms consistent with poisoning, but it is not known whether Budanov was one of the targets.
His service earned him the distinction, granted by Volodymyr Zelensky on February 8, 2024, of Hero of Ukraine, the highest that the Ukrainian president can grant.
