Russian military intelligence
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (GRU) is the military intelligence service of the Russian Armed Forces, responsible for strategic reconnaissance and special operations abroad. It reports directly to the Minister of Defence and is one of the most secretive security institutions in the country. It is widely known by its Russian acronym GRU.
-
Ukrainian airborne assault forces report Russian attempts to exploit bad weather on Huliaypole front
Ukraine's 7th Corps of the Airborne Assault Forces reported that Russian forces are combining small-group infantry infiltrations with motorcycle movement and armored vehicles on the Huliaypole direction as weather conditions deteriorated over the past week. Multiple Russian combined-arms armies are committed on the axis, which the report identifies as a key southern thrust toward Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian forces destroyed a GRU-linked special-purpose brigade group and a logistics bridge used by the Russian army.
-
Budanov reveals years of back-channel contacts with Russia's GRU chief and Prigozhin, advises Zelensky against Donbas concessions
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with The New York Times published on 4 September that he maintained long-running contacts with Russian military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov and the late Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. He advised President Volodymyr Zelensky not to accept any compromise on Donbas that would give Russia formal control over territory its military failed to seize on the battlefield.