From master spy to lead negotiator What does Zelensky’s new chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, bring to the peace talks? — Meduza
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Kyrylo Budanov’s predecessor as President Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, was known as the second-most powerful person in Ukraine. However, he was far less successful in the diplomatic arena. U.S. officials on both sides of the aisle had grown sick of dealing with Yermak long before his ouster in December 2025. And direct negotiation between Ukraine and Russia sputtered out last summer. Now, Budanov is stepping in to lead Kyiv’s negotiating team in the middle of the Trump administration’s latest push to end the war. Having risen to the very top of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), Budanov brings with him a stellar reputation as a master spy, public popularity, and established contacts in both the U.S. and Russia. Meduza looks back on Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov’s military career and experience negotiating with Moscow.

Kyrylo Budanov is a military man by training. A graduate of the Odesa Military Academy, he began his career in the special forces of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, and went on to become a member of Unit 2245 — an elite commando force trained by the CIA. After Russia annexed Crimea and started a war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Budanov took part in raids on the peninsula and fought in Donbas. After he was injured in combat, the CIA sent Budanov for treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.

In 2020, President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Budanov to lead Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known as the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR). Within three years, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant general. Then, on January 2, 2026, Budanov accepted a new position as Zelensky’s chief of staff — just two days before his 40th birthday.