There is ongoing routine dialogue between the current and former heads of the Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence - Oleh Ivashchenko and Kyrylo Budanov - and reports of a "struggle for influence" between them are media speculation, sources in military intelligence told Interfax-Ukraine.

"The supposed ‘struggle for influence’ between the current and former heads of the directorate is media speculation and yet another conspiracy theory - the same officers who have spent years fighting Russia and defending Ukraine actually remain in all key positions within the agency," a source said.

The source said Ivashchenko and Budanov are generals who have effectively spent their entire careers serving in the directorate, and that both "value the traditions and values that have taken shape in the intelligence service."

"Of course there are certain changes, and that’s normal - every commander has the right to their own vision for developing the agency they’re personally responsible for. But the two continue to engage in dialogue, communicate at briefings and meetings, everything is routine, specific, in a military manner. Who leaked this and why is a separate question," the agency’s source said.

Media reports had earlier claimed that the current head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Oleh Ivashchenko, was trying to weaken the influence of his predecessor, Kyrylo Budanov, over the directorate and had already removed many of Budanov’s people from their posts. According to Ukrainska Pravda, Ivashchenko is "doing everything he can to push out" Budanov’s influence over the agency.