MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. The Russian Interior Ministry has declared chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence Kirill Budanov and two other senior Ukrainian military leaders internationally wanted again for masterminding drone attacks on Russian regions.
Apart from Budanov, 39, Nikolay Oleshchuk, former commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, and Commander of the Ukrainian Naval Forces Alexey Neizhpapa were repeatedly added to the international wanted list. The move comes as Russia has launched a new criminal investigation into coordinating drone attacks on Russian regions, including the bordering region of Kursk.
Earlier, the Russian Investigative Committee identified Budanov, Oleshchuk, and Neizhpapa as organizers of Ukrainian drone attacks on the Kursk Region, among other Russian territories. They have been charged in absentia.
At least three criminal probes have been launched personally against Budanov, and judges have already ruled twice to arrest him in absentia.
"Budanov’s criminal activity against Russia and its residents has not gone unnoticed," a Russian law enforcement official told TASS.
Since a coup in Ukraine in the spring of 2014, Ukraine, Budanov has played a role in Kiev’s anti-terror operation in the Donbass region targeting residents of southeastern Ukraine. According to Russian media reports, in August 2016 he was a member of a sabotage group that plotted terrorist attacks on Russian soil, including in Crimea, all of them prevented by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Budanov has served as chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence service since August 2020.