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KYIV -- Ukrainian security agents were responsible for killing a Ukrainian banker who reportedly served as a crucial information conduit and negotiator with Russia in the run-up to last year's invasion, a top intelligence official said.

The comments, made by General Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, add further to the mystery surrounding the killing of Denys Kiryeyev, who was reportedly honored for his work four months after his death.

Budanov, who heads Ukraine's military intelligence agency, said "he believes the facts" and that Kiryeyev, who was a full-time employee of the agency, was killed by the Security Service of Ukraine, widely known as the SBU. Budanov did not say how long Kiryeyev had worked for the agency.

The agents killed Kiryeyev in an SBU car as they "conducted an operation" against him, he said.

"It's a fact that he was killed in that car by these operatives," Budanov, whose agency is known as the GUR, said in a January 21 phone interview.

Asked specifically if SBU agents killed "a Ukrainian hero," he told RFE/RL: "This is absolutely true."

Budanov's comments came three days after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) story that examined the work of Kiryeyev, who had been employed for several Western banks and had developed ties with powerful businessmen in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk who had strong connections to Russia.