Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukraine's top intelligence agency, confirmed a recent report that members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's entourage are spying for Kyiv.
In a wide-ranging interview with Ukrainska Pravda published Thursday, Budanov, who has been head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine since August 2020, said there also are members of his intelligence agency embedded within Putin's inner circle.
"I'm not going to tell you how many there are … but they are there," Budanov said.
On Feb. 13, in an interview with Greek news outlet iefimerida, Andrii Cherniak, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said there are people within Putin's inner circle who are spying for Ukraine.
"We have found mechanisms of cooperation even with people who are very close to Putin," Cherniak said. "These are people above all suspicion, who are known as supporters of 'great Russia.' … Everyone does it for their own benefit because it's in their best interest. Someone to save his life, someone because he loses money. After the invasion of Ukraine, several people began to lose money and influence very quickly. That's not something they like."
Budanov said it's getting easier to find Russians close to Putin willing to spy for Ukraine because "the situation in the Russian Federation really does deteriorate every day." The one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion is Friday.
He added those cooperating with Ukraine want "an opportunity to live a normal life in the future. I don't think your readers will be surprised to find out that we maintain close ties with many countries globally."
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