Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Kyrylo Budanov, the former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, as the head of the President's Office not only because he sought to strengthen his administration's focus on security, defense, and diplomatic negotiations. This is stated in a Bloomberg article dedicated to Budanov's figure, UNN reports.
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According to politicians and officials familiar with the matter, with whom media journalists spoke on condition of anonymity, the Ukrainian leader was guided by several motives at once.
One of them is that Zelenskyy was looking for a candidate with a positive reputation among Ukrainians to compensate for the negative impact associated with Yermak. He resigned at the end of 2025 amid an investigation into a corruption scandal. In addition, as Bloomberg notes, Yermak managed to annoy Ukrainian society and Kyiv's foreign allies with his role as a "gray cardinal" in domestic politics.
Another reason why the president decided to make Kyrylo Budanov the head of his office is his popularity and growing influence as the head of a reputable agency. That is why Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to remove Budanov from intelligence but keep him in sight, entrusting him with heading a civilian agency.
However, Budanov himself does not agree with this version.
Regarding administrative influence - I am no longer the head of the service, and now I am engaged in organizing everyone's work. So do you really think I have become weaker?