Ukraine's Defense Minister dismisses top spy's two deputy chiefs

This information was confirmed to Babel by four sources in various security agencies involved in the Defense and Security Forces.

Zaitsev and Ostapenko were fired about a week ago. Both are said to be people of the former Minister of Defense and now Ambassador to Slovenia Andriy Taran. The authority to dismiss the deputy chiefs of the DIU belongs to the Minister of Defense, who reports to the President.

"According to Babel information, the dismissal was not agreed upon with Budanov and he was not consulted with on this matter. At the same time, another interlocutor, close to the dismissed, believes that Budanov himself is behind such a decision. Another interlocutor familiar with the situation notes that such a decision was made at Bankova in order to weaken Budanov. Babel has not yet been able to contact Ostapenko and Zaitsev themselves," Babel notes.

The other day, former MP and now blogger Boryslav Bereza said that the President's Office was going to fire Budanov. When asked about this, one of the members of the Verkhovna Rada's specialized committee said that this would not happen “in the near future.”

"The relationship between Budanov and the head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak deteriorated in the spring of 2024, although Budanov was considered for the post of commander-in-chief together with Syrskyi back in February. When Syrskyi was elected to this position, Budanov was going to expand his powers," the report states.