Gun battle breaks out in Kyiv between two branches of Ukraine’s own security services
A gun battle broke out between two branches of Ukraine's own security services in Kyiv in the early hours of the morning, during an investigation into an alleged Russian plot to target a Russian opposition figure. Officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) exchanged fire with a unit from Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) after the SBU said its officers were attacked and blocked while carrying out the investigation. President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly reprimanded the heads of both agencies and demanded a public explanation, while the incident has raised fresh questions about coordination between Ukraine's security bodies.
The clash occurred as the SBU probed a suspected Russian terrorist plot against Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, who was allegedly abducted from outside his home days earlier. Footage showed armed, masked men facing off at night, with gunfire audible and at least two men later seen being treated by paramedics; the area was subsequently cordoned off. Rivalry between the SBU and HUR is rare but not unprecedented, with the two agencies previously blaming each other over the unexplained 2022 killing of banker Denys Kireyev. The incident also coincided with a seventh consecutive day of Russian drone strikes on Kyiv, which wounded nine people and damaged buildings including a university.
- SBU and HUR officers exchanged gunfire in Kyiv overnight
- Clash occurred during probe into alleged Russian plot
- Zelensky demands explanation; rare inter-agency tensions resurface
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Ukraine's security apparatus is split across several agencies, two of which are central here: the SBU, the domestic security service responsible for counter-intelligence and internal investigations, and HUR, the military intelligence agency focused on foreign and battlefield operations. Though both answer ultimately to President Volodymyr Zelensky, they operate largely independently and have a history of friction, including unresolved disputes over past incidents where each blamed the other.
The immediate context is an SBU investigation into an alleged Russian plot against a Russian opposition figure living in Ukraine, part of the wider, often murky world of exiled Russian dissidents and volunteer fighters operating alongside Ukrainian forces. Confrontations between Ukraine's own security bodies are unusual, so any physical clash between their officers is significant, since it points to gaps in coordination at a time when the country is under sustained military pressure from Russia, including regular drone attacks on the capital.