Igor Kostyukov
Igor Kostyukov is a Russian military officer who has served as Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff since 2018. Before that appointment he was deputy head of the GRU. He is a key figure in the leadership of Russian military intelligence.
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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.