{"id":7290,"date":"2026-01-02T15:44:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7290"},"modified":"2026-01-02T15:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:44:47","slug":"ukraines-zelenskyy-names-gur-chief-kyrylo-budanov-as-top-aide-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7290","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s Zelenskyy names GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov as top aide | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Military intelligence chief has been credited with a series of daring operations against Russia since it launched its invasion.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 2 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">2 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>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\u00a0that could end Russia\u2019s war.<\/p>\n<p>\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<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cKyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to deliver results,\u201d \u200che added.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>Budanov said he had accepted the nomination and would \u201ccontinue to serve Ukraine\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\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<p>Procedures to formally appoint him as the president\u2019s chief of staff have been launched, Zelenskyy\u2019s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists.<\/p>\n<p>Budanov will succeed Andriy Yermak, a divisive figure in Kyiv. He was decorated as a Hero \u200dof Ukraine and known to be Zelenskyy\u2019s most important ally, but he resigned in November after investigators raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe.<\/p>\n<p>The corruption scandal involving Yermak, who was also Kyiv\u2019s lead negotiator in US-backed peace talks, fuelled public anger over persistent high-level graft.<\/p>\n<p>His opponents accused him of accumulating vast power, acting as a gatekeeper regarding access to the president and ruthlessly sidelining critical voices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Military intelligence chief has been credited with a series of daring operations against Russia since it launched its invasion. Published On 2 Jan 20262 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff as Ukraine and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}