Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's presidential office, said in an interview with The New York Times that he regularly communicated with Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company, while serving as head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR). He did not provide further details of those conversations.
Budanov said his communication with Prigozhin ended shortly before Wagner's mutiny in 2023 — two months after which Prigozhin died in a plane crash. Budanov's personal contacts with Prigozhin had not been previously officially reported.
In May 2023, The Washington Post, citing a leak of US intelligence, reported that Prigozhin had contacted Ukraine's HUR and offered to reveal positions of Russian troops in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian units from Bakhmut. The documents also indicated that Prigozhin spoke by phone with HUR staff and met with Ukrainian intelligence officers in an African country. Prigozhin then commented ironically: "Of course, I can confirm this information. We have nothing to hide from foreign intelligence services. Budanov and I are still in Africa."
In the same NYT interview, Budanov said he frequently communicated with Igor Kostyukov, head of Russia's GRU military intelligence. The talks began in 2022 with Turkey's mediation and concerned opening Black Sea shipping routes for grain transport. "Over these years we have managed to achieve a lot, including on issues related to prisoners of war," Budanov said.
Budanov became head of Ukraine's presidential office on January 2, 2026. Before that, he led the HUR for six years. He also said conditions for a ceasefire are unlikely to be reached before spring 2027, but "you cannot fight a war all your life."