Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Budanov refused to join Yulia Tymoshenko’s party

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko proposed that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, take over leadership of the Batkivshchyna party.

This was reported by Ukrainska Pravda.

“According to Ukrainska Pravda, there was even an attempt to invite the head of the GUR, Kyrylo Budanov, to become the party leader,” the article states.

It is noted that Budanov declined the offer. According to the outlet, the main intrigue of the next presidential elections lies in the rivalry between current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), now Ambassador to the UK, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Earlier, Russian political analyst Andrei Suzdal’tsev expressed the opinion that Valerii Zaluzhnyi is currently an unrealistic candidate for the presidency of Ukraine. He explained that Zelensky “is pulling in huge sums of money from the West, not only for the war but also for public sector salaries.”