Russia issued an arrest warrant for Ukraine’s intelligence general

(Dan Tri) – Russia accused four senior Ukrainian military officials of being the masterminds of more than 100 `terrorist attacks` involving drones targeting civilian infrastructure.

Head of the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kirill Budanov (Photo: AFP).

`Criminal charges were brought against the Chief of the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kirill Budanov; Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Nikolay Oleshchuk; Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Alexey Neizhpapa and Commander of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Regiment

The Russian Investigative Committee also decided to prosecute four Russian military officials and list them as wanted.

`The investigation has collected enough evidence of the participation of Ukraine’s top military leadership from April 2022 to September 2023 in more than 100 air strikes using drones in the city of Moscow.

In April,  the Lefortovo district court in Moscow, Russia issued an arrest warrant and placed General Budanov on the international wanted list.

Previously, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Mr. Budanov of organizing the bombing of the Kerch bridge connecting mainland Russia with the Crimean peninsula last October.

Reacting to the Russian court’s order, Mr. Budanov said: `I’m very happy. It’s a testament to our work and I promise to do even better.`

When asked about the responsibility behind the attack on the Crimean bridge in October 2022 and two drone attacks on air bases deep in Russian territory in December 2022, Mr. Budanov refused.

On September 23, Mr. Budanov announced that at least 9 Russian soldiers were killed and 16 injured in the Ukrainian attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.

Mr. Budanov also said that UAV attacks on Russia are causing `confusion` in Russian public opinion with consequences such as disruption of civil aviation activities.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced in August that three Ukrainian generals were wanted under the provisions of the Russian Criminal Code.

The Russian Investigative Committee has prosecuted these three major generals in absentia since the end of July. They accused the three generals of commanding Ukrainian units to shell residential areas in Donetsk and Lugansk, killing more than 100 people and