President Volodymyr Zelensky has undertaken a sweeping reshuffle of Ukraine’s top intelligence leadership as he seeks to repair strained relations with the United States, reassure Western allies over corruption, and strengthen Kyiv’s negotiating position with both Washington and Moscow. According to reporting by the Times UK, the changes reflect a calculated effort to align Ukraine’s security architecture more closely with U.S. expectations at a critical moment in the war.
At the center of the shake-up is Kyrylo Budanov, one of Ukraine’s most prominent and trusted wartime figures, who has been moved from his post as head of military intelligence to become Zelensky’s chief of staff. Government insiders and intelligence officers told the Times UK that the decision was driven in large part by Budanov’s exceptionally close ties with the CIA and senior U.S. military officials, relationships cultivated over years of joint intelligence and covert operations against Russia.
Budanov, revered domestically for planning and participating in audacious raids behind enemy lines, led a Ukrainian delegation to Miami last week where he met Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s peace envoy, as well as Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. His diplomatic outreach appears to have delivered quick results, with trilateral peace talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States beginning on Friday, underscoring the renewed momentum in back-channel diplomacy.
The move also marks the departure of Andriy Yermak, the controversial former chief of staff who had accumulated extraordinary power around the presidency and was widely viewed in Washington as a difficult interlocutor. Yermak’s standing collapsed after he was linked to a corruption scandal in the energy sector, allegations that fatally undermined his public anti-corruption posture and sharpened Western unease about governance in Kyiv.
Yermak’s influence had extended deep into Ukraine’s security services, contributing to further upheaval. Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU domestic security agency and architect of a dramatic operation that damaged Russia’s fleet of nuclear-capable bombers, was dismissed earlier this month. Intelligence officials said his close association with Yermak became a liability, particularly after he authorized the arrest of detectives probing the corruption case, claiming without convincing evidence that they had been compromised by Russia.
That decision cleared the way for Yevhenii Khmara to become acting head of the SBU and for Oleh Ivashchenko to replace Budanov as chief of military intelligence. The Times UK spoke to multiple Ukrainian officials and intelligence officers familiar with all three men, painting a picture of a leadership transition designed to decentralize power, reduce political friction and restore confidence among Western partners.
Budanov’s promotion into the presidential office is seen as especially consequential. Unlike Yermak, who was known as a jealous gatekeeper to Zelensky, Budanov is described as a delegator who relies heavily on deputies and horizontal coordination. Officials say his leadership style is better suited to wartime governance and complex international negotiations, particularly with the United States.
A career special forces officer, Budanov rose to prominence through sabotage and assassination missions deep inside enemy-held territory. Since Russia’s initial hybrid invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, his intelligence agency has worked closely with the CIA, exchanging intelligence and targeting data that enabled repeated strikes on Russian command posts and senior officers. Ukrainian officials believe his presence at the heart of government will significantly strengthen Kyiv’s negotiating architecture, especially on U.S. and U.S.-Russian tracks.
Budanov’s popularity also carries political implications. Opinion polls place him among Ukraine’s most trusted wartime leaders, rivaling even Zelensky and trailing only former armed forces commander Valery Zaluzhny. Some intelligence officers believe Zelensky’s decision to bring Budanov into his inner circle neutralizes a potential political rival, binding his fortunes more closely to the president and any eventual peace deal brokered under U.S. pressure.
Ivashchenko, Budanov’s successor at military intelligence, represents a starkly different style. Described by colleagues as a classical, old-school officer, he is seen as methodical, conservative and less inclined toward public visibility. A veteran of Ukraine’s intelligence services with experience in both domestic and foreign intelligence, Ivashchenko has worked closely with British intelligence and is expected to steer military intelligence further into the shadows, scaling back the media prominence it gained under Budanov.
Meanwhile, Khmara’s rise within the SBU signals a shift away from politicized counterintelligence toward battlefield effectiveness. A lifelong member of the SBU’s elite Alpha unit, he has overseen operations ranging from naval drone strikes in the Black Sea to long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. Although he lacks experience in organized crime and counterintelligence, former colleagues argue this may be an advantage, given the corruption that has historically plagued those departments.
Taken together, the intelligence reshuffle reflects Zelensky’s recognition that military success alone is no longer sufficient. As Ukraine faces mounting pressure to negotiate and depends heavily on Western support, particularly from a more transactional White House under Trump, Kyiv is recalibrating its power structures to project reliability, discipline and strategic alignment. As the Times UK notes, the early signs suggest the gamble may already be paying off.
