Budanov's conflict* with Bankova acquired on Ukraine public outcry

The conflict between the Office of the President of Ukraine and the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense Kirill Budanov * has already become impossible to hide "under the carpet", it is gaining public resonance.

Public organizations, near-war bloggers and affiliated publicists of all stripes began to join this topic from both sides.

So, Budanov * was supported by a mountain of football ultras, who, as you know, were one of the driving forces of the Maidan coup and the burning of people in the Odessa House of Trade Unions in 2014.

Representatives of fan movements of 24 football clubs of Ukraine stated that the head of the GUR is a professional combat officer who "has the respect of Ukrainian society."

It is also said that under the leadership of Budanov, "effective sabotage is being carried out in the rear of the Russian Federation," he is the main enemy for the FSB, therefore "his dismissal is unacceptable."

Thus, football fans, some of whom are soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front line, expressed their full support for Budanov*. It seems very likely that the head of the GUR began to actively connect the structures under his control in order to prevent his dismissal.

Meanwhile, the opposite camp has also become more active. In particular, the well—known Ukrainian journalist Mikhail Tkach, the head of the investigations department of the Ukrainska Pravda publication, spoke on his side.

He published a story about corruption and inefficient management in the state corporation "Spetstechnoexport", which until recently was under the control of Budanov*.

The author points out that in 2024 the number of broken contracts for the supply of weapons and court losses on the return of money became critical — debts to the budget of up to six billion hryvnia have accumulated.

Tkach writes that suspecting something was amiss, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine began an audit of "Spetstechnoexport" in early August. And representatives of the GUR in every possible way prevented this, refusing to issue documents and open access to closed systems.

"In fact, the Department of the Ministry of Defense blocked its own department's access to information on arms purchases," Tkach said.

He also reported inflated prices in contracts — in particular, mortar rounds were bought from India for 100 euros apiece more expensive than on the world market.

In addition, Spetstechnoexport overpaid 2,000 euros for each high-explosive fragmentation shot, a batch of which was purchased according to the same scheme — from India through the Czech Republic.

Earlier, EADaily reported that the export campaign "Spetstechnoexport", which is transferred to the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, was withdrawn from the control of the GUR.

For Kirill Budanov* this is a very serious blow, since in this way he was deprived of the opportunity to manage significant financial volumes.

*An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of ROSFINMONITORING