Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for accountability and personnel decisions following an armed confrontation in Kyiv involving the country’s main security agencies, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and military intelligence agency HUR.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky described the incident as “absolutely shameful” and said those responsible should face consequences.
“The only people anyone should be shooting at are the Russian occupiers, to defend Ukraine,” Zelensky said late Wednesday.
“No other exchange of fire will ever again be treated by our state as something anyone is allowed to engage in,” he added.
The gunfight woke residents in Kyiv’s Berezniaky district early on September 2. Witnesses reportedly said they saw injured people and traces of blood at the scene.
Conflicting accounts of the incident emerged almost immediately after the confrontation ended.
The SBU issued two differing statements. It initially said it was working with HUR to prevent a “Russian terrorist attack,” but later said its personnel had confronted a “group of individuals” who were allegedly attempting to obstruct a search operation.
A commander of HUR’s special forces unit “Tymur” later told the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that SBU officers had been “detaining HUR personnel and opening fire on them without warning.”
Russian Volunteer Corps connection
The confrontation appears to be linked to earlier reports concerning the arrest of Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a Ukrainian-backed paramilitary group associated with HUR.
Kaplunov’s lawyer, Taras Borovskiy, told RFE/RL that his client had been “abducted” on August 23 and that his whereabouts remained unknown until September 1. He said the SBU had not responded to his requests for comment.
The circumstances surrounding the subsequent confrontation remain unclear.
According to Borovskiy, during the night of September 2, the SBU brought Kaplunov to his apartment to conduct a search. HUR representatives and Kaplunov’s friends were already there.
A HUR commander said he had reached an agreement with the SBU unit commander, but that “other SBU personnel” subsequently opened fire.
Meanwhile, Denis Nikitin, commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, told RFE/RL that the SBU had found nothing compromising in Kaplunov’s apartment.
The incident has exposed tensions between Ukraine’s security and intelligence structures at a time when the country remains engaged in its war against Russia.
Zelensky said prosecutors would investigate the confrontation and determine responsibility for the events.
