Russia has arrested Ukraine's presidential chief of staff in absentia for a third time, and he is treating it as a compliment. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President and the former military intelligence chief, calls the Moscow court's ruling a "masterpiece of absurdity" and a sign his work is landing, writing on Telegram that such Russian decisions mean nothing to him.

Budanov ran Ukraine's military intelligence through the war's boldest operations on Russian soil before taking over Zelenskyy's office in January. The charges Moscow has stacked against him track the strikes the Kremlin blames on him. A Russian ruling carries no force outside Russia, where Budanov is already on the country's list of terrorists and extremists. What it marks is how central a target he remains three and a half years into the war.

Moscow charges him over warfare methods

A Moscow court has ordered the in-absentia arrest and accused Budanov of using prohibited methods of warfare, according to Russian state media. Budanov has answered with contempt.

"The decisions of the so-called Russian 'court' have no significance for me, nor for the rest of humanity," he states.

He adds that the only thing that matters for him is his work, which "forces the enemy to panic and issue such masterpieces of absurdity." He framed the case as proof that he is on the right track.

"I consider such actions by the enemy a kind of acknowledgment of my effectiveness. I cannot lower the bar. I will continue to work just as productively," he says.

The arrests track his intelligence record

Each Russian case has followed one of the operations Moscow attributes to Ukrainian intelligence. In April 2023, the Lefortovo court arrested Budanov over alleged terrorism and put him on an international wanted list, after Russia's FSB named him as an organizer of the Crimean Bridge blast, as per Suspilne.

Late that year, the Basmanny court arrested him a second time over more than 100 drone strikes on Russian territory. This week's ruling is the third.