Zelenskyy names Ukraine’s head of military intelligence as his new chief of staff

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits perform drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday appointed the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence as his new chief of staff, a move that comes as the U.S. leads a diplomatic push to end Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion.

Announcing the appointment of Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to focus on security issues, developing its defence and security forces, and peace talks -- areas that are overseen by the office of the president.

Zelenskyy had dismissed his previous chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, after anti-corruption officials began investigating alleged graft in the energy sector.

The president framed Budanov’s appointment as part of a broader effort to sharpen the focus on security, defence development and diplomacy.

“Kyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to achieve results,” Zelenskyy said.

Budanov, 39, said on Telegram his new position is “both an honor and a responsibility -- at a historic time for Ukraine -- to focus on the critically important issues of the state’s strategic security.”

Zelenskyy appointed Foreign Intelligence Service head Oleh Ivashchenko to replace Budanov as GUR chief.

`Prominent face of Kyiv’s intelligence effort’

Budanov is one of the country’s most recognizable and popular wartime figures. He has led Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, since 2020.

A career military intelligence officer, he rose through the defence establishment after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. He also took part in special operations and intelligence missions linked to the fighting with Moscow-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine before the full-scale invasion of February 2022. He reportedly was wounded during one such operation.

Since the full-scale invasion. Budanov has become a prominent face of Kyiv’s intelligence effort, regularly appearing in interviews and briefings that mix strategic signaling with psychological pressure on Moscow. He has frequently warned of Russia’s long-term intentions toward Ukraine and the region, while portraying the war as an existential struggle for the country’s statehood.

Under Budanov, the GUR expanded its operational footprint, coordinating intelligence, sabotage and special operations aimed at degrading Russian military capabilities far beyond the front lines. Ukrainian officials have credited military intelligence with operations targeting Russian command structures, logistics hubs, energy infrastructure and naval assets, including strikes deep inside Russian territory and occupied areas.

His appointment to lead the office of the president marks an unusual shift, placing an intelligence chief at the centre of Ukraine’s political and diplomatic coordination.

Ihor Reiterovych, a Kyiv-based independent political expert, noted that Budanov had participated in the talks with the U.S. and “will fit much more naturally into the overall context” of the negotiations.

“Unlike Yermak, he has both experience in this field and has worked in a relevant position,” Reiterovych said, adding that the GUR also has had certain contacts with Russia on issues such as prisoner exchanges.

Russia reports a higher death toll from a strike

Russian authorities said Friday the death toll from what they called a Ukrainian drone strike on a cafe and hotel in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region rose to 28. Kyiv strongly denied attacking civilian targets.

Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman of Russia’s main criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, said those killed in the village of Khorly, where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year’s Eve, included two minors, while 31 people were hospitalized.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff, Dmytro Lykhovii, denied attacking civilians. He told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne on Thursday that Ukrainian forces “adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law” and “carry out strikes exclusively against Russian military targets, facilities of the Russian fuel and energy sector, and other lawful targets.”

He noted that Russia has repeatedly used disinformation and false statements to disrupt the ongoing peace negotiations.

The Associated Press could not independently verify claims made about the attack.

Washington praises progress in negotiations

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process.”

The U.S. efforts has faced a new obstacle earlier this week, when Moscow said it would toughen its negotiating stand after what it said was a long-range drone attack against a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in northwestern Russia early Monday.

Kyiv has denied attacking Putin’s residence, saying the Russian claim was a ruse to derail the negotiations.

In his New Year’s address, Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “90 per cent ready” but warned that the remaining 10 per cent -- believed to include key sticking points such as territory -- would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live.”

Overnight attacks

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck a residential area of Kharkiv with two missiles Friday, Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram page, adding that Moscow’s forces “continue the killings, despite all the efforts of the world, and above all the United States, in the diplomatic process.”

At least 19 people in the eastern city were injured, including a six-month-old, said regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov.

The Russian Defence Ministry denied launching any strikes with missiles or other airborne weapons on Kharkiv on Friday and suggested, without offering evidence, that the damage could have been caused by the detonation of ammunition at a weapons depot.

Earlier Friday, Russia conducted what local authorities called “one of the most massive” drone attacks at Zaporizhzhia. At least nine drones struck the city, damaging dozens of residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure but causing no casualties, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional administration.

Overall, Russia fired 116 long-range drones at Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air force, with 86 intercepted and 27 striking their targets.

The Russian ministry said its air defences intercepted 64 Ukrainian drones overnight in multiple Russian regions.

The Russian city of Belgorod was hit by a Ukrainian missile, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Two women were hospitalized after the strike, which shattered windows and damaged an unspecified commercial facility and a number of cars in the region that borders Ukraine, he said.

Illia Novikov, The Associated Press