Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov says he regularly spoke with Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin

Kyrylo Budanov, the leader of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, revealed to The New York Times that he had regular communication with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mastermind behind the Wagner mercenary group. This contact took place while Budanov worked at Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) under the Defense Ministry. Budanov mentioned that he ceased communicating with Prigozhin right before the mercenary group staged its mutiny, and he did not provide additional specifics about the discussions.

Previously, there had been no official indications of any interaction between Budanov and Prigozhin. In 2023, the Washington Post, based on undisclosed sources, reported that Prigozhin had presented a proposition to representatives of HUR: he would supply Ukraine with valuable information about Russian troop locations, which could be utilized for attacking Russian forces, in return for Ukraine's withdrawal from the city of Bakhmut.

Prigozhin dismissed the newspaper's report, stating, "Yes, of course, I can confirm this information. We have nothing at all to hide from foreign intelligence services: Budanov and I are still in Africa." Yevgeny Prigozhin met his demise in a plane crash in August 2023, approximately two months after orchestrating the mutiny. Currently, Kyrylo Budanov holds the position of head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, having assumed the role in January 2026 following six years of serving at HUR.

He has also been involved in efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict with Russia. At Meduza, we prioritize transparency regarding our utilization of artificial intelligence in our newsroom. This article, authored by one of our human journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model adhering to our stringent editorial standards, has undergone a thorough review by a Meduza editor before being published.

If any inaccuracies are detected in this translation, please reach out to us at reports@meduza.io. To access Meduza's exclusive English-language content, kindly subscribe to our newsletter.