On Thursday, Russian authorities included the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, on the wanted list, as this structure is considered responsible for several attacks against Russia.
• Read also: Large-scale Russian attack on Kiev leaves 53 injured and Ukraine calls for help
The name Kirill (Kyrylo in Ukrainian) Budanov, 37, now appears in the Russian Interior Ministry’s database of people wanted for violating criminal law.
The authorities did not specify what they were accusing him of.
Russian authorities accuse Mr. Budanov, who has headed the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s military intelligence department since 2020, of organizing the attack in October 2022 that partially destroyed the bridge connecting the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed, to Russia. .
At the end of November, Ukraine said it suspected Russia of poisoning Mr Budanov’s wife, Marianna Budanova, who advises Kiev Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
The Kremlin rejected these accusations, and its spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the press that “Ukraine always blames Russia for everything.”