[3] Following his 2007 graduation, Budanov started a military career in the special forces of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

According to The New York Times, Budanov was brought to the United States for treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being wounded in fighting in the Donbas.

[8] In September 2022, Budanov was involved in the largest prisoner exchange operation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, when 215 Ukrainian defenders returned home, including more than 100 fighters and commanders of the Azov Regiment.

[3] In February 2023, the head of the Servant of the People parliamentary bloc, Davyd Arakhamia, stated that Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced by Budanov as defence minister.

On 21 April 2023, the Lefortovo District court in Moscow, Russia issued an arrest warrant against Budanov in relation to the 2022 Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge.