The deceased banker Denys Kireev, who allegedly warned the Ukrainian intelligence about Vladimir Putin’s order to launch a full-scale invasion and whom the SBU accused of treason, was a classified employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was killed in an SBU car. In an interview with Radio Svoboda, the head of the GUR Kyrylo Budanov told about this, reports UNN.
The interview was recorded after the publication of The Wall Street Journal, from which it follows that Kireev was killed by SBU employees. And also after the statement of the adviser to the head of the OP Mykhailo Podoliak that Kireyev was killed due to a lack of coordination between the GUR and the SBU.
Budanov: “I share the opinion and believe in the facts that Mr. Kireev was killed in the SBU car when they (SBU employees – ed.) conducted an operation 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.”
The head of the GUR confirmed that he considers Kireev a hero, and also that he was a secret employee of the GUR and was not a Russian spy.
“To the question of whether Kireev was a Russian spy, unequivocally no, he was not. (…) As the head of the special service, I am sure that the person who was our employee was not a spy. (….) 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,” said Budanov.
He also told some details about Kireev’s detention by SBU officers, after which the banker was found dead.
“(…) And when a car approached, from which “Alfa” fighters and employees of the SBU (Counterintelligence Department of the SBU – ed.) jumped out and were told 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 our Department of Internal Security, which are calm, they are employees of the SBU, they want to ask me something. (…) 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,” Budanov added.
According to him, he had a conversation with the head of the SBU at the time, Bakanov, and he was unable to explain anything.
