Russo-Ukrainian War
In 2014, he took part in the war in Donbas, where he was wounded several times and reportedly participated in a number of classified special military operations. According to a 2024 report by The New York Times, Budanov was one of the members of the elite Unit 2245 of the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate trained by CIA. The New York Times reports that Budanov gained a reputation for participating in bold operations behind enemy lines. In 2016, while still a lieutenant colonel, he reportedly led a special forces unit in an amphibious raid on Russian-occupied Crimea to plant explosives at an airfield. Budanov's unit was ambushed by a Russian commando unit after landing; the Ukrainian force killed several Russian soldiers before retreating to Ukrainian-controlled territory. According to The New York Times, Budanov was brought to the United States for treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being wounded in fighting in the Donbas.
On 4 April 2019, Budanov's Chevrolet Evanda car was blown up by a Russian with documents in the name of "Alexei Lomaka", who planted a mine, but it detonated prematurely. The attacker and the sabotage group suspected of blowing up Budanov were detained.
In 2020, he became deputy director of one of the departments of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
On 5 August 2020, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Budanov as head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
On 11 March 2022 he became the chairman of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. In September 2022, Budanov was involved in the largest prisoner exchange operation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, when 215 Ukrainian defenders returned home, including more than 100 fighters and commanders of the Azov Regiment.
In February 2023, the head of the Servant of the People parliamentary bloc, Davyd Arakhamia, stated that Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced by Budanov as defence minister. However, the replacement did not take place, and Budanov was not appointed. Rustem Umerov would eventually replace Reznikov.
A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence said in 2023 that there had been more than ten assassination attempts on Budanov. In November 2023 his wife, Marianna Budanova, was poisoned with unspecified heavy metals, probably from poisoned food, and several agency employees had mild symptoms of poisoning.
On 8 February 2024, Budanov was recognized as a Hero of Ukraine by President Zelenskyy.
On 2 January 2026, Kyrylo Budanov was appointed as Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, replacing Andriy Yermak, who had resigned on 28 November 2025.
In January 2026, Budanov congratulated Denis Kapustin for ″returning to life″, with sources saying that Ukraine staged his death in order to lure out Russian assailants. According to the HUR, Ukraine gained the $500,000 bounty of ″killing″ Kapustin.
