Denis Kiriev - ingarlic of Ukrainian-Russian negotiations in Belarus - was a full-time employee of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who was killed by SBU employees in a SBU car in Kyiv on March 5, and his body was thrown into the street, he said in to an exclusive interview with Radio Svoboda Kyrylo Budanov, head of the State Government.
According to him, he personally knew Kireev since 2009, and the head of the GUR categorically rejects the version that Kireev could have worked for Russia.
RFE/RL spoke with Kyryll Budanov three days after about Denis Kireev the publication wrote The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The publication stated that it was Kireev who warned the Ukrainian leadership in detail about Putin's plans to attack Kyiv on February 24. As WSJ notes, when Kireev was on his way to the second negotiation meeting in Belarus, he was killed on the way by SBU officers, considering Kireev to be a Russian agent. Later, the adviser to the OP chairman Mykhailo Podolyak stated that Kireev was killed due to a lack of coordination between the GUR and the SBU.
Kyrylo Budanov says that he "knows perfectly the people who executed Kireyev" and that he had a personal conversation with the head of the SBU at the time about this murder Ivan Bakanov. According to Budanov, this was their last conversation.
- Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President's Office - so far the only representative of the current government who commented on the murder of Denys Kireev. He said that this is the result of poor coordination between the State Security Service and the Security Service. Can you confirm this?
- I would say it a little differently, but I will not comment on Mr. Mykhailo's opinion. However, I would like to point out that in the same comment he said another interesting thing. To the question of whether Kireev was a Russian spy, unequivocally no, he was not. That's probably the only thing I'll comment on.
- Why are you so sure that you were not there? Maybe he was a double agent?
- This is a rather strange question. As the head of the special service, I am sure that the person who was our employee was not a spy. This, first of all. Secondly, I have known Mr. Kireev personally since 2009. This is just for your understanding.
Further. He cooperated with all the former heads of our structure for many years. At one of these events, when I was still a young officer, I saw him for the first time in my life.
And a strong, in my opinion, my argument will be that he passed all the checks here, including on the lie detector. This is also documented, recorded and everything is here in the archives.
- From the publication The Wall Street Journal it follows that he was killed by SBU employees. Do you share this version that he was killed by SBU employees?
- I share the opinion and believe the facts that Mr. Kireev was killed in the SBU car when they (employees of the SBU - ed.) conducted an action against this person. This fact is recorded, it is in the investigation materials. Everything else is being investigated by the SBI. I am not authorized to comment on this information. The fact that he was killed in this car by employees is a fact.
- According to you, Denys Kireev is a hero. You said he played a key role in informing you about Putin's plans. From what you just said, does it appear that SBU employees killed a Ukrainian hero?
- This is absolutely true (SBU employees killed a Ukrainian hero - ed.).
- How could this happen?
- I'm sorry, but sometimes such terrible cases have already happened. Not as scary as this one. But there were problems before.
- It turns out that the state in the person of GUR failed to protect its agent?
- This is not an agent, but a full-time employee. This is the first.
- Full-time employee...
- Absolutely not. Because no one expected such a reaction from those people who conducted it. We are not engaged in the protection of our own forces and means, say, from the police, NABU or SBU. This is nonsense! Do you understand?
And when a car drove up, from which the fighters of "Alfa" and employees of the DKR jumped out (Counterintelligence Department of the SBU - ed.) and told them to get into this car, Mr. Kireev himself told his bodyguards, the officers who accompanied him, and he was then accompanied by two more employees of the Department of Internal Security of ours, that it is calm, these are employees of the SBU, they want to ask me something.
- Mr. Budanov, at that time the SBU was headed by Ivan Bakanov. There is also information - this was discussed in the investigation of "Channel 5" (I cannot call this channel an independent media), nevertheless, 10 days before the invasion, there was a material that said that Mr. Kireev was on friendly terms with Mr. Bakanov.
- This is not entirely true.
Mr. Kireev had as a closed employee, and he was a closed employee (we can honestly say about this, since he has already died), he had connections with very many people in general all over the world.
Indeed, he had some communication with the person you mentioned. I will not answer this question directly or indirectly. But the possibility of such communication existed.
- But it turns out that SBU employees were developing some kind of plan regarding Kireev, they may have considered him a Russian agent and tried to carry out some kind of special operation against him and exceeded their powers, to put it mildly?
- He was called, he went there from my office. Why was he traveling, including accompanied by two internal security officers. Because this is a service that is responsible, in particular, for aspects of interaction with other bodies.
Approximately 200 meters from the central building of the SBU (he was going there), a bus pulled out, that is, it simply broke into the oncoming traffic, Alfa employees ran out shouting "It's the SBU!", operatives came out, they said they were from the SBU. Detention was carried out in this form.
Kireev told everyone to stop. Then he was transferred to a minibus, which went not to this central building, but several blocks away. Then what happened... And his body fell out of that van. Here are the facts. Why didn't they go to the SBU building? Let the investigation answer this question.
- It turns out that he was extrajudicially executed by SBU employees.
- Draw your own conclusions.
- Tell me, please, did you later have a personal conversation with Ivan Bakanov regarding this incident?
- Of course he had. That was my last conversation with him.
- And how did he explain it to you?
- No way.
- Not at all?
- He couldn't really explain anything.
- And in your own opinion, this is still a failure of communication and coordination between the bodies, or did someone simply want to settle scores with Kireev?
- I believe that the matter is much deeper. However, I will keep my opinion to myself. Let's evaluate only the facts.
The facts are: a person who went to the SBU building at the invitation of the SBU was intercepted 200 meters away, before reaching the building, was taken a little further than to this building, and the body was thrown into the street. Here are the facts. All.
- Do you remember that on March 5, "Ukrainian Pravda" published a news report with a reference to law enforcement agencies that the SBU had eliminated a Russian agent upon arrest. do you remember
- I really remember. I remember perfectly. This is an attempt to protect yourself. What is unclear here?
- And who tried to protect whom?
- Those people who did it.
- And these people who did it, where are they now?
- Again, the investigation is underway. It is conducted by the SBI. Please direct all questions to them. I have no right to comment on such information.
- Do you know if these people are still working in the SBU?
- I know. However, I tell you once again: I refuse to comment on this.
- Mr. Budanov, what was Kireev's role in the negotiations in Gomel?
- What is the role? I sent him there. And the first time and the second time, he had to get on the train right after he was supposed to visit the SBU.
- And why? What was the purpose of sending him there?
- Since the person has already died, we can say about it: the main task we set for him is to prolong the process in order to buy time. Because Mr. Kireev personally knew two people from that negotiation process who represented the Russian side.
- Do you think that the person who killed Kireev had the goal of either disrupting these negotiations or, in this way, weakening Ukraine's position in these negotiations by eliminating Kireev?
- I can express absolutely my subjective opinion. I want to emphasize this once again: whoever did it on purpose wanted to prevent us from interfering in someone else's game and delaying this process in order to allow our Armed Forces, let's say, to take certain actions to repel the enemy.
If you remember those events, then the situation was close to critical. I think you should remember it well. And there was a certain number of people who, let's say, did not really want Ukraine to win. This is my personal opinion. I emphasize once again.
- These people you are talking about, are they from Ukraine, from the Ukrainian side?
- First of all, from the Ukrainian side. This is first of all.
- You said that you don't want to say much now. The ball is in the DBR's court...
- I don't want to. I have no right to do such a thing. Firstly, as an official, secondly, as an officer and, thirdly, it is not correct in principle. Sorry, you are a journalist, not an investigative body.
- But do you know these people personally?
- I know very well all these people who executed him.
- Over the past few days, I have had several conversations with various people related to the SBU and intelligence - in the past and now. And they told me that Kyrylo Budanov doesn't just want to shed light on this story now, when he starts giving comments and talking about Kireev. What is your motivation for talking about it?
- My motivation is very simple. I am now forced to comment on all this, including communicating with you, because there was a serious wave of information and a very serious wave of opposition.
In principle, I got used to living with opposition. It does not overshadow my life, as they say. However, I will not allow anyone to spoil the memory of our hero! That's all.
- In the summer, Volodymyr Zelensky removed Ivan Bakanov with the wording that his actions could lead to the death of people. Was it about Kireev?
- I don't know what exactly the president meant. I cannot comment on the statements of officials, let alone the first person of the state.
