Ukraine spy chief being rushed to German hospital is 'just Putin propaganda'
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Ukraine dismissed Russian claims that its head of military intelligence was wounded in a missile strike as “Putin’s propaganda”.
Ukraine dismissed Russian claims that its head of military intelligence was wounded in a missile strike as “Putin’s propaganda”.
The report said Mr Budanov, one of Zelensky’s closest officials who is said to be in charge of attacks on Russian soil, was in a critical condition and being treated in a foreign hospital.
His spokesman, Andriy Yusov, said there was no need to respond to the disinformation, according to a report by local media.
A second Ukrainian source told the Telegraph the claim was “a fake”.
Maj-Gen Budanov has become a target for Russia, where he has been branded a “terrorist” for his role in organising alleged Ukrainian sabotage campaigns behind enemy lines and in Russia.
In April, a Moscow court issued an arrest warrant for the spy chief for offences related to terrorism and arms smuggling.
Footage of the strike showed that the building, nicknamed The Island, was damaged but did not take a direct hit.
At the time, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Russia was spreading fake news about the deaths of Maj-Gen Budanov and Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The spy chief was last seen in a video shared by the minister on June 11, which did not feature any timestamps.
In the clip, Maj-Gen Budanov sits silently in his office for half a minute with the caption: “Plans love silence”.
Russia’s tabloid newspapers and the pro-Kremlin military bloggers have been reporting his alleged death for a number of weeks without producing any real evidence.
In its report, RIA Novosti said the Ukrainian spy chief was injured when a missile hit the building next to his office and was then flown to a Polish airbase and then, by US plane, to the Ramstein military base in Germany for treatment.
Maj-Gen Budanov was reportedly then transferred in a critical condition to a military hospital in Berlin.
A Telegraph analysis of the alleged flight shows it leaving Ramstein in the opposite direction to the German capital before its trackers are cut.
Russian military bloggers on the Telegram messaging app also described the RIA report as questionable after the outlet also incorrectly reported the death of Gen Zaluzhnyi.
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