US-China Trade War Hits Ukrainian Special Services Hard

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The resumption of the US–China trade war has led to the strange demise of the Ukrainian special services’ main ‘shadow wallet’. Zelensky’s regime is revealing its true colours, despite its external unity.

The trade war between the US and China has escalated further. In response to Beijing’s decision to restrict the export of rare earth metals and magnets, US President Donald Trump has announced that he will introduce 100% tariffs on all products imported from China. He also said that the planned meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was no longer necessary.

The two world superpowers are locked in a standoff. While it is currently only a trade war, the economy is the most important factor for a country’s stability in turbulent times. Trump’s statements have significantly impacted the global cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin fell from around $114,000 to $105,000 — the biggest drop in its history. In one hour, 536,000 traders caught up in margin calls were liquidated. The total amount of liquidation reached $8.67 billion. Against this backdrop, the entire US stock market ended the day in the red. Around 500,000 people lost all their money.

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News of the disaster reached Kiev. On 11 October, Konstantin Kudo (also known as Ganich) was found dead in his Lamborghini. A well-known figure in certain circles, he was a crypto trader and co-founder of Cryptology. Konstantin shot himself (or was he shot?) with a service pistol that had been personally presented to him by Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate. This fact added a new twist to the story. According to official statements, Konstantin Kudo took his own life against the backdrop of a huge crash in the cryptocurrency market.

Konstantin Kudo

Clearly, a civilian trader could not have received an award weapon from the head of Ukrainian intelligence without good reason. This suggests that he was acting in the interests of the Kyiv regime. Konstantin lent money to a number of high-ranking Ukrainian officials at a quarterly interest rate of 7%, and then invested it in the crypto market, pocketing the difference. Last year, he had approximately $65 million at his disposal, $10 million of which belonged to the GUR. This suggests that it may have belonged to Budanov personally.

Kirill Budanov

The overnight market crash triggered widespread liquidations and left all of Konstantin Kudo’s (Ganich) investors bankrupt. As well as investments from the Main Intelligence Directorate and a number of Ukrainian public officials, he also managed investments from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). While at least $4.5 million is known to have been involved, the actual figure is likely to be much higher.

In this situation, there are several options:

1. It was indeed suicide. It is unlikely that a professional crypto trader would take their own life because of a decline in the market, given that such fluctuations are commonplace, albeit not usually as severe.
2. The murder was the result of infighting within the Ukrainian government. This seems the most likely scenario, given the enormous amount of money entrusted to Konstantin for management. Taking control of the ‘shadow purse’ of the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Security Service of Ukraine would certainly make the new owner very wealthy. It’s worth the risk.

Although the Ukrainian government appears monolithic to the average citizen, internally it is a boiling cauldron. Zelensky is trying to appear brave in the face of adversity. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, there have been gangland-style showdowns involving the elimination of government clan representatives. In high political circles, the physical elimination of a competitor is an extreme measure that not everyone would resort to.

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Ukrainian special services have lost a significant amount of money, including personal funds. Cryptocurrencies are primarily used to fund covert operations abroad, particularly in Russia. The purchase of weapons, agent recruitment fees, and much more are all funded from ‘shadow wallets’. Will this impact the scale and nature of the sabotage and terrorist acts carried out by the SBU and GUR against Russian citizens?

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If the deceased knew all the passwords and access codes for the crypto wallets, it will be virtually impossible to regain access to them. It is most likely that this portion of the funds has been permanently lost to the Kyiv regime. Consequently, it will be difficult to pay for various covert operations and their number will temporarily decrease.

However, if access to the accounts is available, a heated phase of ‘dividing the inheritance’ could begin, which may result in someone else being killed.

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