Moscow, Russia – Russian media and telegram channels continue to receive reports of the injury or death of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, 37-year-old Kirill Budanov. The Ukrainian authorities do not confirm this information, insisting that the head of the GUR has “excellent health” and “a good appetite”. What is reported about Budanov’s condition in Russia and Ukraine – in Russian media material?
Version of the injury after the Russian attack
The main Russian source of information about Budanov’s health is RIA Novosti. In early June, the state agency wrote on its official Telegram channel that in Ukraine “the news of the death of the head of military intelligence is spreading” and indicated that he had not appeared in public since May 29. The Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation called the information unreliable.
June 15, RIA Novosti citing a law enforcement source, reported that Budanov was seriously injured on May 29 following a Russian strike on the GUR building in Kiev.
“A Russian rocket flew into the neighboring office with Budanov,” the source said.
On May 29 Russian Ministry of Defense reported, which launched a “group attack with long-range high-precision air weapons against enemy targets at airfields” at night. Radar posts, aircraft, and command posts fall under it, the military department said in a statement.
According to the source, after that, Budanov was pulled out of the rubble and evacuated by a UAF air ambulance helicopter to the Rzeszow military base in Poland, and from there they were taken to Berlin on an 84- 0087 C-21A from the US Air Force’s 86th Air Medical Evacuation Squadron, which flew from Ramstein US Air Base in Germany. RIA Novosti points out that there is a recording of the flight with corresponding data on the Flightaradar service, and takes this as confirmation of what his source said.
The agency’s interlocutor added that, according to his sources in Ukrainian military intelligence, Budanov is being treated at the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) hospital in Berlin “at Scharnhorststrasse, 13. According to the source, according to his For information, the head of the GUR is “in serious condition”.
At the same time, in the reception room of the Berlin hospital RIA Novosti declared that a person named Kirill Budanov is not being cared for in an institution. The German government has also not confirmed reports that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate is being treated at the Bundeswehr hospital in the German capital.
“It is most likely fake news,” said a TASS representative of the Cabinet press service.
On June 17, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Ilya Kiva said, citing a source at the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany, that Budanov had died without regaining consciousness. “Now in Kyiv they are thinking about what to do with it <…> But they will definitely hide this fact as much as possible.” said in a message on the telegram channel of the former parliamentarian.
Kiev did not confirm information about the injury
Shortly after the appearance of information about Budanov’s injury, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine informed on its Telegram channel that the head of the department has “excellent business, excellent health” and “a good appetite”. According to him, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence has “very little free time” and many projects.
In turn, the President of Ukraine, in his daily address on June 16, said that Budanov attended a meeting of the military committee.
“There was another event today, another item on my agenda that has not yet been reported. This is a military office. Our commanders: Generals Syrsky, Tarnavsky, Zaluzhny, Shaptala. And our commanders in specific areas of active operations Without naming names, everything has its time. <…> And there was Budanov,” the Ukrainian leader said.
At the same time, the Ukrainian side did not release photos or videos with Budanov to confirm their version.
The soldiers questioned the credibility
Russian military correspondents and pro-war bloggers were skeptical of the information from RIA Novosti on Budanov’s injury from the attack. In particular, the telegram channel “Military Informant” recalled that in May the state agency, citing a source, reported that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny was seriously injured, which does not would not allow him to resume service.
“In fact, as it turned out later, Zaluzhny did not suffer any injuries. Thus, you should not take this information seriously,” the publication notes.
As reported by the GRAY ZONE telegram channel (associated with Wagner PMC), Budanov has not visited the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense since the start of the military operation. “In the building complex, only part of the departments involved in the functionality of a function of a technical and encryption nature,” the post said.
False version
On June 17, reports appeared on Russian Telegram channels, citing the German publication Stern, that Budanov was in a coma. In particular, publications containing such a statement appeared on the Telegram channel of the TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov and the portal “Ukraina.ru” (later the message was deleted from the channel of publication).
On Stern’s website statement states that the magazine “hasn’t published any news like this”
“So this story is nothing more than an outright fake,” the article points out.
The statement also notes that Stern’s latest material on Budanov is dated February 28, 2023. He cited the opinion of the head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate on whether China would supply weapons to Moscow.
Why Budanov has not appeared in public for a long time
Information about the alleged injury of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence began to appear against the background of a rather long absence of Budanov in public. In particular, the head of the GUR was not present at the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on the situation at the Kakhovskaya HPP on June 6.
As the Ukrainian edition “Strana.ua” recalls, on May 29, the day of the missile attack, Budanov posted a video in which he made threats against Russia for the attack. About two weeks later, on June 11, a video is broadcast with the silent leader of the GUR, who thus calls for “silence” around the counter-offensive. There is no reliable information on exactly when these videos were recorded.
“Strana.ua” also admits that Budanov does not appear in public due to the workload, in particular, due to the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army.
At the same time, the publication reports that in May, the editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian site Censor, Yuriy Butusov, criticized the head of the GUR for excessive media activity. According to the journalist, Budanov devotes too much time to his own promotion, and not to his immediate duties. The number of interviews with Budanov greatly exceeds the number of interviews with other Ukrainian military leaders, Butusov noted.
“It is, therefore, possible that Budanov was asked to “accelerate” public activity, or that he himself decided to take a break, noticing the growing tension around him,” writes Strana.ua.
Another reason for the “shadow” of Budanov may be American dissatisfaction with the attacks of the “Russian Volunteer Corps” and the “Russian Freedom” Legion * on the Belgorod region due to the use of equipment by American soldiers during the raids. “Strana.ua” notes that “it is believed that both structures are supervised by the GUR.”
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