KYIV – The head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Service (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, claims his agency is capable of wiretapping high-ranking Russian officials.
His comments come less than two weeks after Bloomberg published transcripts of phone calls between Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. In the leaked conversations, Witkoff appears to provide guidance on how the Kremlin can propose a peace plan acceptable to Trump, while Dmitriev separately outlines Moscow’s informal terms for ending the war.
Bloomberg did not disclose how they gained access to the sensitive information exchange, and Moscow claims the leak was intended to hamper negotiations between Russia and the US.
A video uploaded by RBK shows Budanov being asked directly by journalists whether Ukrainian intelligence could wiretap Kremlin officials.
“We can, yes. We get paid for this,” he replied, as quoted by Russia Today, Tuesday (December 9, 2025). Budanov did not provide any details to support this claim.
Although Zelensky’s office denied involvement, Budanov’s statement hinted at Ukraine’s possible role, especially since leaked minutes of the talks indicated Kyiv had been bypassed. As various parties traded blame for the leaks, a European security official told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last November that dozens of countries may have intercepted Ushakov’s phone calls because he used an unsecured mobile phone line
Last week, The Guardian quoted a former US intelligence official as saying the leak likely originated in Washington, possibly by someone opposed to Trump’s policies. Speaking to Kommersant last month, Ushakov suggested the leak may have been part of a campaign against Witkoff, and said some of the material was fake.
He warned that revealing such secret conversations could undermine trust between the US and Russia, comparing the case to the 2017 Mike Flynn scandal, when leaked Russian phone calls forced Trump’s national security adviser to resign.
A senior Trump official offered a different view, telling the WSJ that the leak likely originated from a foreign intelligence agency. The official said the actual target was Ushakov, who was also recorded speaking with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
