Banker Denys Kireev warned the Ukrainian intelligence about the order of Russian President Putin to launch a full-scale invasion. He began cooperating with the Main Intelligence Directorate (MDI) of the Ministry of Defense in 2021.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes about it.
Kireev had connections in the Ukrainian and Russian financial spheres — and this interested the head of the State Security Service (SBU), Kyrylo Budanov, who suggested that he use his contacts to try to enter Russiaʼs military intelligence. He was taken to Kharkov, where Kireev, together with another scout, crossed the border and gathered information in Russia.
"He received information about everything. The world of special services and the world of finance are always connected, as is the world of crime, at least in our countries," Budanov noted.
In the fall of 2021, US intelligence began to warn of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, Kireev learned from his sources that Moscow was preparing for an invasion, and told Budanov about it. In the afternoon of February 23, Kireev informed Budanov that in the morning Putin had given the order to start the invasion. Budanov says Kireeevʼs tip gave Ukraine precious hours to redeploy troops and better prepare for the invasion.
At eight oʼclock in the morning on February 24, Russian helicopters landed at Antonov Airport, a few kilometers north of Kyiv. The Kremlin planned to use the airport to transfer troops and equipment for an assault on the capital. However, the Ukrainian army knew about this plan, which allowed them to engage in serious fighting for the airfield and eventually render it unusable.
Later, Kireev found himself in the Ukrainian delegation at the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, which made his connections with the special services obvious. And in early March, he was detained by SBU counterintelligence representatives, after which Kireevʼs body was found with a gunshot wound to the head.