This defiant Ukrainian general has no smile — and surprising remarks

Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov's glowering face is barely visible in the half-light of his office. He likes to work in the dark, as befits the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence service, the GUR. Behind him in the gray gloom, you can see a painting of a giant owl, the symbol of his service, savagely devouring a bat that is the motif of its Russian counterpart.

Budanov is the dark prince of the Ukraine war. His drop-dead stare has become an icon for Ukrainians — a symbol of bravery and defiance in this third year of conflict with Russia. Ukraine's NV news outlet calls him the man “without a smile.” A meme that circulates on the internet shows nine identical pictures of his scowling face, labeled “happy,” “angry,” “troubled,” “excited” and so on.

Budanov spoke with me for 90 minutes last month in his forbidding office on what Ukrainians call “the Island,” a derelict string of buildings on a peninsula on the Dnieper River. He was, as always, the voice of resistance — promising to take the fight into Russia with drones and special operations, confirming reports that he's battling with Wagner mercenaries in Africa and scoffing at a Korea-style negotiated settlement.

Just as the House of Representatives came to a final vote on additional military aid to Ukraine, Budanov delivered a clear, emphatic message to the United States: “You should keep helping us, and you should, at last, deliver the assistance we need. We will have a common victory together.”

War always has an element of theater, and Budanov might be this conflict's most colorful character. He's just 38, and he's famously courageous in battle. He fought behind Russian lines between 2014 and 2016 in Donbas and was injured three times, including taking shrapnel in his heart, neck and back. In 2016, he led a raid that killed a lieutenant general from Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB.

Budanov predicted that Russia will launch a big offensive starting in June to try to capture all of Donetsk and Luhansk, the two provinces known as the Donbas region, which Russia has claimed but doesn't control. The Russians will then focus on the November elections in the United States and the aftermath. “Until the inauguration of your president, they will try to get as much as possible of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk,” perhaps hoping that a reelected President Donald Trump can ratify their gains.

To counter the Russians, Budanov plans more crossborder attacks by the “Russian volunteers” who operate inside Russia with support from his service, along with more drone attacks. He explained: “We've offered a plan aimed at reduction of Russian potential. It encompasses a lot of aspects, like the military industry … critical military targets, their airfields, their commandand- control posts.”

When I asked if Ukrainian attacks inside Russia would continue, Budanov offered a rare trace of a smile. “I hope so,” he said. A cartoon circulating on the internet shows Putin meeting Budanov in a park and asking if his dog bites. Budanov answers no, and Putin pets the animal. The dog takes a gun and shoots Putin dead.

The Russians have tried to assassinate Budanov at least 10 times, according to Ukraine's count, including at least two missile strikes on his headquarters at the Island. A Moscow court issued a warrant for his arrest last year for allegedly plotting to destroy the Kerch Strait bridge. His wife, Marianna, was poisoned by heavy metals, according to Ukrainian reports last year.

Budanov doesn't appear fazed. If anything, he seems to relish the danger. Some friends worry that he can be reckless. “Kyrylo has succeeded in so many risks, he doesn't have good risk assessment,” one told me.

Near the end of our conversation, I asked Budanov if he was worried that if Trump were elected, he might try to impose a settlement. His answer surprised me, but perhaps it underlined what a canny intelligence operator he is. He's already recruiting a potential asset.

“I have a huge respect for the personality of Trump,” Budanov said. He noted that the former president had attended a military academy, and he lauded his tenacity. “There have been nine instances in his life when he went to the top, fell to the very bottom of life, and went back again.” But as for any Trump peace plan, he said: “Even a person like him won't be able to resolve this issue in one day.”

My visit to the Island was a reminder that Ukraine survives in part on mythic, galvanizing personalities such as Budanov and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Last year, Budanov's fans posted what became known as the “silent video,” which showed him sitting wordlessly for 33 seconds in his office, glaring at the camera. At the end of this half-minute of unspoken defiance, the screen displayed the words: “To be continued.”