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The wife of Ukraine’s intelligence chief is reportedly in hospital receiving treatment for heavy metal poisoning. 

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence (GUR) said on Tuesday that several people had been poisoned at its headquarters in Kyiv, including Marianna Budanova, the wife of Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian secret service.

After feeling unwell for “a long time”, Budanova was admitted to hospital, where blood tests have revealed heavy metal poisoning in her system, Ukrainian officials say.

Intelligence sources have told the Ukrainian media that “these substances are not used in any way, either in everyday life or in military matters. Their presence could indicate an attempt to poison a specific person”.

Mild symptoms of poisoning were also observed in other agency workers, according to the same sources.

Little is known about Budanova’s health, with the GUR saying only that her medical treatment has been completed, but that she is still in hospital and they are waiting to see how she progresses.

“The treatment is completed and then there will be a check-up by the doctors,” they told Ukrainian media.

Both Budanov and Budanova live in Kyiv’s intelligence headquarters, and initial indications from the investigation suggest that the poisoning may have been caused by food.

The Ukrainian newspaper Babel, which first reported the news, noted that Budanov had been the victim of possible poisoning both before and during the war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian defence ministry has launched an investigation into what’s behind the poisoning.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the ultimate target was Budanova herself or her husband.

Budanova does not work in the country’s state administration, since June 2021 she has been working as an adviser to Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.

While her husband holds one of the most important posts in the country, working hand in hand with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy. Budanov has played a key role in overseeing and executing major military operations against Russian forces following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

He was also the main mastermind of Ukrainian sabotage operations on Russian territory and in the Crimean peninsula.