Kyiv: Gunfight between Ukrainian Intel, SBU officers under investigation

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation and Prosecutor General’s Office are investigating a gunfight involving officers of the country’s military intelligence agency, HUR, and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv, ASTRA reports.

Presidential office head Kyrylo Budanov said the investigation must be “thorough and impartial”, while stressing that military personnel could not be abducted or subjected to gunfire without consequences.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said the incident occurred during investigative operations into an alleged sabotage case linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

According to prosecutors, a group of people attempted to obstruct the operation by blocking the investigators’ vehicles. SBU special forces from the Alfa unit were deployed and opened fire, wounding several people.

The men involved were later identified as members of one of Ukraine’s Defence Forces units, the SBU said.

The incident follows claims by the SBU and HUR that they had jointly prevented an alleged assassination attempt against a Russian opposition nationalist figure who had travelled to Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day.

The HUR initially published a similar statement but later removed it from its official pages.

RBC-Ukraine reported that the incident concerned an alleged attempt to assassinate Stepan Kaplunov, a combat-training commander with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK).

The RDK had reported the previous day that Kaplunov had been abducted and called on Ukrainian security agencies to explain what had happened.

By Aghakazim Guliyev