OCU cleric calls new head of President’s Office “one of our parishioners”

Dumenko and Budanov. Photo: OCU

OCU cleric Kostiantyn Kholodov stated that the newly appointed head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, is a parishioner of his structure.

“When I serve in the church, he doesn’t miss a single service – and he never passes up the chance to confess and receive Communion whenever there is such an opportunity. He comes with his wife, Marianna Oleksandrivna. So yes, you could say they are our parishioners,” Kholodov said in an interview with the outlet LB.

He added that he has known Budanov since 2014, when Budanov was a special forces officer. According to him, “we developed quite friendly, companionable relations.”

As previously reported, on January 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Kyrylo Budanov as head of the President’s Office. Before that, Budanov led the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense (GUR).

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