Ukrainian negotiator Denis Kireyev, who was found dead on a street in Kyiv with a gunshot wound to the head at the start of the war, was reportedly killed during his arrest.

He was accused of high treason, and he was killed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said at the beginning of March last year. At the time, Honcharenko said the SBU had clear evidence of Kiriev's betrayal, which included phone calls.

Now "The Wall Street Journal” writes that Kireyev was not a traitor and that he informed the Ukrainian authorities about the date of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and when the Russians would attack Kyiv.

A few days after he was killed, he was given a hero's burial. As the head of Ukraine's military intelligence service, General Kirill Budanov, told the Wall Street Journal, Kiriev provided Kyiv with information he received through his contacts in Russia, which helped in Kyiv's defense.

"If it hadn't been for Kireyev, Kyiv would probably have fallen," Budanov told the Wall Street Journal.

Kireyev died on March 5 under mysterious circumstances in Hostomel, as Russian forces struggled to advance on the Ukrainian capital.

It was later suggested that he was working as a double agent for the Russians. However, the SBU issued a statement that Kireyev died while on duty on a special mission.

It became known who warned Budanov about Putin's plans to take Kyiv

Banker Denys Kireev warned Ukrainian intelligence about the Russian president's order to launch a full-scale invasion. He began cooperating with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the /1 pic.twitter.com/JNlx3Xx4bp

— Lew Anno Yieretz Israel (@anno1540) January 19, 2023

Kireyev participated in peace talks on February 28 in Gomel, Belarus, in the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Budanov said that when in the fall of 2021, the US military and intelligence began to warn Ukraine about the threat of a major war with the Russian Federation, and that Kireyev learned from his sources that Moscow was indeed planning an invasion and that he would be the first to inform the Ukrainian authorities .

On the afternoon of February 23rd, Kireyev gave General Budanov new intelligence – Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an invasion planned for the morning of February 24th.

According to Budanov, Kireyev knew not only the date, but also the key point of the attack, which is the airport in Gostomel. Russia intended to use the port to transfer troops and equipment for the attack on Kyiv. Around eight in the morning on February 24, Russian helicopters actually attempted to land at Antonov Airport in Gostomel.

"It was Kireyev's information that gave Ukraine a few precious hours to redeploy troops to counter the Russian offensive," Budanov said. After a fierce battle with Russian paratroopers, the airfield was damaged and unusable for the attackers.

Gostomel became a target of the Russian army from the first days of the war. The city was shelled and bombed from the air, and the landing craft attempted to land at the local Antonov airport. The city was badly destroyed, and the occupiers also destroyed the Ukrainian heavy transport plane Mira at the airport.