Overview
- Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov released a New Year’s Day video showing Denis Kapustin alive after reports of his death.
- HUR says it identified Russian intelligence operatives behind a planned assassination targeting the Russian Volunteer Corps leader.
- The agency says it secured a $500,000 bounty allegedly posted by Moscow and will direct the money to Ukraine’s defense efforts.
- According to HUR, the deception ran for about a month after the RDK said on December 27 that Kapustin was killed by a drone strike in Zaporizhzhia.
- Initial coverage notes the lack of independent verification and highlights that the RDK is not officially recognized by Kyiv and that Kapustin has a far‑right background.