The Honeymoon Is Over for Ukraine’s Feared Former Intelligence Chief as He Faces His First Corruption Scandal

Kyrylo Budanov had something rare in Kyiv politics: a reputation largely untouched by scandal. That image is now under pressure, nine months after the former military intelligence chief moved into Ukraine’s Presidential Office.

Budanov’s name appears in several recordings examined as part of a major corruption investigation, Ukrainian publication Hromadske reported, citing court documents. The case primarily concerns his former deputy, Iryna Mudra, who faces allegations involving the illegal takeover of companies and money laundering. The investigation is linked to a wider inquiry into Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear power monopoly.

In recordings made public, Mudra reportedly says that some illegal operations she carried out had been ordered by her “chief”. The article identifies that person as Budanov. Several conversations refer to a “Kyrylo Oleksiyovych”, a name matching Budanov’s first name and patronymic. At an Aug. 25 hearing, a lawyer for the chief executive of Sense Bank, one of the suspects, presented a conversation in which a man identified as Budanov discussed alleged illegal activity. Hromadske said prosecutors’ transcripts explicitly identify Budanov as the speaker.

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Other conversations are described as more direct. Mudra and former lawmaker Maksym Mykytas allegedly discussed a request from Timur Mindich, an Energoatom suspect and associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to take control of Sense Bank’s cash flows. “Mindich turned to Kyrylo,” Mudra allegedly said, referring to what she described as major financial flows that were to be controlled.

Mudra and Mykytas are accused of laundering about 150 million hryvnias, or roughly $3.4 million, through Sense Bank to pay bail for another senior official allegedly involved in the scheme. New disclosures in November, May and August have turned the case into one of the most serious corruption scandals of Zelenskyy’s tenure. The anti-corruption authorities have not accused Budanov, and he has not been charged. He took over the Presidential Office in January, replacing Andriy Yermak, who had been dismissed months earlier amid the affair.

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Mindich turned to Kyrylo