Ukrainian intelligence chief's wife poisoned, investigation underway
Photo: Marianna Budanova (elle.ua)
The wife of the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, was poisoned. Marianna Budanova is in the hospital, a source in the special services said.
As the source told the agency, after a prolonged deterioration of the state of health, the wife of the head of the GUR was hospitalized. At the moment, the course of treatment is ending, and Marianna will be under the supervision of doctors.
The interlocutor noted that the woman was diagnosed with damage by heavy metals. Such substances are not used in any way in everyday life and military affairs. So their use may indicate the likelihood of a poisoning attempt.
The source adds that it is currently unknown whether it was a one-time poisoning, or whether Marianna was poisoned in portions for some time.
An investigation is currently underway into the alleged assassination attempt of the wife of the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
What is known about Budanov's wife
Marianna Budanova was born on August 3, 1993, in the village of Stavyshche in the Kyiv region. In the mass media, she is labeled as a psychologist, volunteer, and public figure.
In 2020, Budanova unsuccessfully ran for the Kyiv City Council from the Udar party. At the time of the elections, she was non-partisan and temporarily did not work.
In 2021, she was an adviser to Vitaliy Klitschko on combating corruption in the field of youth politics and sports on a public basis.
She is married to the chief intelligence officer of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, who told one of the publications in an interview this summer that Marianna lives with him in his office and the couple are together 24/7 for security purposes. At the same time, he noted that his wife does not work at the Main Directorate of Intelligence.
Attempts on Budanov
The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, survived more than a dozen attempts on his life. One of them is a missile attack on the MDI office during a full-scale war.
In addition, in December of last year, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Malyuk, said that the Russian special services were preparing to eliminate the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, and the then Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov. Fortunately, the attempt was prevented.
