Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has removed two deputy heads of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) under Kyrylo Budanov—Viktor Zaitsev and Ihor Ostapenko—placing them on leave, according to the Ukrainian digital media outlet Babel, citing its anonymous sources in security agencies.
Kyiv Post reached out to HUR for confirmation or denial of the information, but they declined to comment on the situation.
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Babel said in its report that “power to dismiss” the HUR deputies “is in the hands of the defense minister, who reports to the president.”
Zaitsev and Ostapenko were dismissed about a week ago. Both are considered close to former Defense Minister Andrii Taran (2020-2021), who is now the ambassador to Slovenia.
Some sources believe that the dismissals of Zaitsev and Ostapenko were not agreed upon with Budanov, and he was not informed of the decision. However, one acquaintance of the dismissed officials believes that Budanov himself is behind this decision.
Another source familiar with the situation states that the decision was made in the President’s Office to weaken Budanov’s position, Babel reports.
In May of this year, Russian propaganda spread a false narrative that Budanov is viewed as a competitor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, making him a problem for the President’s Office. Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have been actively disseminating messages saying the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, is so fearful of any competition for Zelensky that it is no surprise regarding the poisoning of Budanov’s wife.
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As reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, Budanov denied any possibility of a political career during the war in a BBC interview on April 22, 2024. Budanov sees the accusations against Yermak regarding the poisoning of his wife as an attempt to shift blame for the crime away from Russian intelligence.
Officials in the Kyiv government say these falsehoods are spread to create the illusion of a non-existent conflict between Ukrainian military intelligence and the country’s political leadership.
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