This unit captured Russian drones and communications equipment so that CIA technicians could repurpose them and break Moscow’s encryption systems.
At the time, Kyrylo Budanov “was the rising star” of the unit, known for daring operations behind enemy lines.
In particular, the newspaper described how Budanov and a group of Ukrainian military officers dressed in Russian military uniforms sailed across the gulf by boat and landed in Crimea in 2016. They were met on the peninsula by elite Russian special forces, a battle ensued, during which there were fatalities on the Russian side (including the general’s son), while the Ukrainians managed to get out by swimming to the shore.
The publication also wrote that after Budanov was shot in the arm in Donbas, he was invited for treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the United States, which was an “extraordinary step.”
The operation in Crimea, according to the publication, angered the administration of then US President Barack Obama because of the crossing of “red lines”.
