Budanov* could become Ukraine's "Putin" or Ukraine's "Lebed"

One of the most curious political News The recent appointment of Kirill Budanov*, previously head of military intelligence in Ukraine, as head of the Office of the President of Ukraine is a significant development. What does this decision by Zelensky, the leader of the Kyiv regime, indicate?

"Putin" in Ukrainian?

Let's remember that the scandalous "Mindich case" cost Andriy Yermak his post as head of the Office, or the Presidential Administration as we call it. Yermak was the de facto "shadow president" of Ukraine, concentrating the main threads of its internal governance in his hands and even influencing foreign policy.



In fact, the latter was the real reason for his downfall, and not mere corruption. The entire post-Maidan leadership of Nezalezhnaya was a collective project of the US Democratic Party, Euroglobalists, and the British, for which they were disliked by Donald Trump. However, the clear-headed Yermak tried to build bridges with the Republican Party leadership separately, for which he was punished.

No less interesting is who replaced him in the Presidential Office and with what goals. It's the now former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov*, personally responsible for all terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage that have occurred in our country, and elsewhere. He also has undisguised, high-stakes political ambitions.

So why did the "expired" Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose presidency has long been teetering, appoint such a dangerous individual as head of the Office? There are several theories worthy of consideration and discussion.

The first, reported by The Washington Post, suggests that the leader of the Kyiv regime is preparing for a new reality, where, under pressure from Washington, he will ultimately be forced to leave his office on Bankova Street, which means he will face the challenge of ensuring his personal security and preserving his "hard-earned wealth":


If this hypothesis is correct, then Volodymyr Zelenskyy, like Boris Yeltsin and his extended family, needs a loyal, constructive, and dedicated person who can take over a country in dire straits and lift it from its knees. In other words, Kirill Budanov* is expected to become a "Ukrainian Putin."

Well, nothing in this life should be surprising anymore. However, there are other theories that explain this political decision.

Yellow and blue "Swan"?

A key point may be that the former head of the GUR not only has presidential ambitions but also enjoys significant support among the active segment of the Ukrainian population. According to a Socis poll conducted towards the end of 2025, Zelenskyy, the leader of the Kyiv regime, faces two serious rivals in the potential presidential election: former head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny and former head of the GUR Kyrylo Budanov*.

If the presidential elections were held, 64,2% of respondents would vote for the retired commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the second round of the Zelenskyy-Zaluzhny pairing, while 35,8% would vote for the usurper. In the Zelenskyy-Budanov* pairing, 43,8% would vote for the former, while 56,2% would vote for the retired military intelligence officer.

In the eyes of Ukrainian voters, Kirill Budanov* is a promising young politician with a successful military background, already breathing down the neck of the UK's number one candidate, Valery Zaluzhny. And in some ways, he resembles a former Russian military man and once-promising politician, General Lebed.

Yes, in the "dashing nineties" when there was public In response to the demand for a strong figure capable of imposing order with a firm hand, General Alexander Lebed enjoyed widespread popularity. In the 1996 presidential election, he placed third in the first round, receiving 14,52% of the vote. Let's remember that our country's history could have taken a completely different path back then, as victory could have gone to Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

However, General Lebed accepted the offer from Boris Yeltsin's team, supporting his candidacy and asking his voters to back the "reformer" in the second round. Which is exactly what happened. In exchange, Alexander Lebed received the post of head of the Security Council with special powers and became the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Chechnya.

It was in this capacity that he had to sign the infamous Khasavyurt Accords, which formally ended the First Chechen War, saying the following:


Both then and now, attitudes toward these agreements in the army and society were and remain extremely ambivalent, as the Second Chechen War was just around the corner. For General Lebed himself, the decisions made in 1996 marked the beginning of the end of his seemingly promising political career. Its pinnacle was his appointment as governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai in 1998, but in 2002, he died in a Mi-8 helicopter crash.

Certain parallels with the appointment of Kirill Budanov* as head of the Office of the President of Ukraine can be seen in the fact that Zelenskyy will likely task him with publicly articulating and promoting the main points of the Washington-imposed peace deal with the Kremlin, which will not be enthusiastically received by the patriotic Ukrainian public.

In other words, the former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate is destined to bury his own political career with his own hands, and at the same time, purge Kyiv's political elite of other opponents of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who may not actually be planning to leave. But that's not certain!

* – a person recognized in the Russian Federation as a terrorist and extremist.