Like a sense of deja vu. Ukraine suspects Russia of the poisoning of the wife of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov. “This is the main hypothesis,” said a spokesperson for this structure, Andriï Yussov. The latter assures that it was a deliberate poisoning with heavy metals, “in particular, mercury and arsenic”, and not an accident. According to Andriï Yussov, it was Marianna Boudanova and not her husband who “was the target”. “It is simply impossible to directly reach the commander (Budanov) in this way,” said the spokesperson.
Marianna Boudanova, who advises Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, was hospitalized “more than a week ago”, added Andriï Yussov. However, it is impossible for the moment to establish the exact date of the poisoning because “the attack may have been prolonged over time”, argued the spokesperson. Analyzes revealed that she had traces of heavy metals in her body which “are not used in everyday life or in military affairs”. “Their presence may indicate a deliberate attempt at poisoning,” according to an intelligence source cited by the Babel information site.
“In all likelihood”, the poison was delivered “with the food”, added a source within the police cited by the Ukraïnska Pravda site. “She felt bad, so (medical) analyzes were done and these showed poisoning,” she assured, affirming that Marianna Boudanova felt better and had finished “the first stage of treatment”. Andriï Yussov confirmed press reports according to which traces of heavy metals had also been discovered among “several” military intelligence collaborators, without giving further details.
Kyrylo Boudanov indicated in August 2023 that his wife lived with him “in his work office” and never left him for security reasons. Russia has so far not reacted to these accusations.
Budanov, a media figure
Behind this act, it is in reality Kyrylo Boudanov who is targeted. This 37-year-old man has acquired an almost legendary aura since the start of the invasion. Like President Volodymyr Zelensky, he is part of this young generation who knew little about the USSR. He has headed the military intelligence department within the Ministry of Defense since 2020, and this structure is considered responsible for several attacks against Russia since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Russian authorities accuse him in particular of having organized the attack in October 2022 which partially destroyed the bridge linking Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow, to Russia.
The day before the triggering of theRussian invasion of Ukraine, he had decided to shelter his family, anticipating the imminent attack. He would later confide to Washington Post that “he and his wife stared at the clock in anguish all night from February 23 to 24 for hours that night. Finally, the Russian attack took place at 4 a.m.”, as he said had predicted. But the head of Ukrainian military intelligence does not have a crystal ball. The proof when in Le Monde, in February 2023, he declared: “We are approaching the end of the war in Ukraine”, affirming that the Russians no longer have “offensive potential”.
The spy chief is a master in the art of communication. On June 11, 2023, he published a video of himself, still shot, where he does not speak for thirty seconds. After this half minute, the screen simply says: “Events are coming”, then “Plans like silence”.
According to the intelligence services, Kyrylo Boudanov was targeted by “more than ten” attempted attacks. Bombs were notably placed in his car in 2019, an operation which was allegedly orchestrated by the Russian security services (FSB), according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general. Russia has repeatedly been accused of poisoning Kremlin opponents or defectors, both inside and outside its borders, although it has always denied these facts.
In 2018, the highly publicized poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in England triggered shock waves in the international community. In Ukraine, former pro-Western president Viktor Yushchenko claimed that Moscow was behind a dioxin poisoning that targeted him during his campaign in 2004.