The Ukrainian authorities have responded to reports spread in the media about the death of the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic, Kirill Budanov. The State Center for Counteracting Disinformation on Telegram called these statements a piece of information.

“On behalf of the Ukrainian media, news is being spread allegedly about the death of Kirill Budanov. According to these reports, the head of Ukrainian intelligence was killed in a recent missile strike, and preparations for his burial are already underway at the Ukrainian House national center,” the ministry said.

Earlier, former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valery Zaluzhny was seriously injured after a Russian strike on a command post in the vicinity of Kherson. Since the beginning of May, the commander-in-chief has not appeared in public.