Ex-intelligence general Kondratyuk served as informal channel between Budanov and the US
Former head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service and Main Intelligence Directorate, Valeriy Kondratyuk, spent years building contacts with American intelligence and became an informal communication channel between GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov and Washington during the war. In September 2025 his home was searched, reportedly linked to presidential office concerns about controlling these contacts.
Lieutenant General Valeriy Kondratyuk, a former head of both Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense, has drawn renewed attention over his role as a bridge to American intelligence.
Years of building US ties
Over many years, Kondratyuk was one of the key figures who built and maintained contacts between Ukrainian special services and US intelligence agencies. After Russia's full-scale invasion began, these ties took on added significance, with Kondratyuk becoming one of the informal channels of communication between then-GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov and the American side.
The search and its context
In September 2025, while Budanov still headed the GUR, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation searched Kondratyuk's home. The search was linked specifically to his role in these contacts with Washington, amid reports that the presidential office — commonly referred to as Bankova — was unable to fully control this channel and grew uneasy about it.
The episode highlights ongoing tension between Ukraine's political leadership and its intelligence structures over oversight of sensitive communication channels with the country's key foreign ally. An informal line of contact with US intelligence, operating somewhat outside official hierarchy, appears to have been viewed as a challenge to centralized control over security and foreign policy matters during wartime.
