For an intelligence chief running Ukraine's spy operations during war with Russia, Kyrylo Budanov, 37, has built up an unusually public profile that he has used to get his message out and to menace Russia from afar.
These days, a spy boss cannot stay in the shadows, he says.
"It's not possible without this, not anymore," the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) told Reuters in an interview at his heavily defended headquarters in the capital.
The prospect of a spy agency sending assassins to hunt down Ukraine's enemies has drawn comparisons with Israel's Mossad.
Budanov began his military career as a special forces operative and served in the east after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and its proxies took over Ukraine's eastern fringes.
Persons:
Vladimir Putin, Kyrylo Budanov, GUR, Budanov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, haven't, Tom Balmforth, Sergiy, Mike Collett, White, Peter Graff
Organizations:
Kyiv, Ukraine's Main Intelligence, Reuters, Russian Interior Ministry, Thomson
Locations:
Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, RUSSIA, Russian, Crimea, Rybalskyi