The recent poisoning attack on the Ukrainian Military Intelligence chief’s wife, Marianna Budanova, “is a true ‘who done it,’” Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official, told Sputnik.
He added that there are “plenty of people and organizations with motives.”
Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate spokesman Andriy Yusov confirmed to reporters on November 28 that the 30-year-old wife of the Ukrainian military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, was in hospital undergoing treatment for poisoning and is now suffering “mild” symptoms. He did not elaborate on the timing or circumstances of the suspected poisoning attack.
Ukrainian media cited sources as saying that Budanov himself was in good health. However, the plot appears to thicken as several Main Intelligence Directorate personnel have also ostensibly shown signs of poisoning. As regards the attack on the spy chief's wife, sources said Budanova may have had food laced with the toxic substances, which were described as not of the kind "used in any way in everyday life or military operations.” Authorities have launched a criminal probe.
The poisoned woman's husband, Kyrylo Budanov, has been the head of the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate since 2020. A Moscow court issued an arrest warrant against Budanov in April, citing his suspected involvement in the October 2022 terror attack on Russia’s Crimean Bridge. Budanov is notorious for his threatening statements in relation to the residents of Crimea and the Donbass.
“Naturally, the Ukrainian media immediately accused the Russians of this dastardly deed, positing that it was revenge for Budanov’s role in assassinating Russians, which included a journalist and Daria Dugina,” Larry Johnson said.
In an interview with US media in May, when asked about his agency’s possible role in the car bombing killing of Russian journalist Daria Dugina, Budanov confided that “we’ve been killing Russians and…will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.” The same month, he told German media that his agency’s list of targets includes Russia’s president.
“Alternatively, some point the finger at General Zaluzhy’s crew because Budanov is suspected of being behind the recent birthday grenade death of Zaluzhny’s chief of staff,” the pundit speculated.
Gennady Chastyakov, assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, died in an incident while celebrating his 39th birthday on November 6. The death raised several questions: while Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny noted in his statement that an "unidentified explosive device went off in one of the gifts" presented to his assistant, the nation's Ministry of Internal Affairs insisted that Chastyakov himself pulled at the ring of a grenade, which had been given to him as a present.
Military expert Alexey Borzenko told Sputnik earlier that the death of Zaluzhny’s aide was the result of an “obvious terrorist attack,” and suspected that Budanov was behind it, judging by previous attacks on Russian officials and media figures using similar methods. Zaluzhny’s command abilities were slammed by Budanov publicly in September.
29 November 2023, 18:50 GMT
The suspected poisoning attack comes as despite efforts on the part of NATO allies to offer life support to Ukraine amid the ongoing proxy war with Russia, the current bleak reality is a failed counteroffensive by Kiev, huge manpower losses, political dysfunction, infighting, and corruption. Furthermore, there has been a scandal brewing between Ukraine’s civilian and military leadership after Armed Forces Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhny admitted to British media earlier that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had reached a “stalemate.” Zaluzhny’s comments did not go over well, and triggered a partial reshuffle of Ukraine’s military leadership by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The blame game underway about responsibility for the counteroffensive’s failure, the behind-the-scenes power struggle in Ukraine, Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny's open defiance of Volodymyr Zelensky's war plans, and the latter's refusal to hold elections next year have all fueled speculations that regime change might be in the wings.
Accordingly, going back to the suspected poisoning attack on the Ukrainian military intel chief’s wife, there is also the "Russian Nesting Doll explanation,” Johnson speculated. He suggested that the targeting of Marianna Budanova may have been “staged to implicate Zaluzhny in order to add fuel to the movement to oust him.”
“If you are watching from afar this is great entertainment, unless you’re Joe Biden or the members of NATO. If you are part of the Ukrainian hierarchy this is more than worrisome,” Larry Johnson concluded, adding that “nothing distracts from the business of fighting…like sowing fear and paranoia among the political and military leaders.”