Kyiv shooting between SBU and GUR personnel triggers political fallout as new banknote, air-raid overhaul and US diplomacy make headlines
A shooting incident in Kyiv involving personnel from Ukraine's SBU and GUR intelligence services prompted President Zelensky to announce staffing decisions and sparked dueling accounts of an alleged assassination plot involving a Russian Volunteer Corps figure. The same week saw the NABU/SAP "Carthage" anti-corruption operation, a visit to Kyiv by US envoys Witkoff and Kushner after talks with Putin, fresh Ukrainian strikes on Russian air and naval assets, a drone hit on the SBU headquarters, the launch of a ₴2,000 banknote honouring poet Vasyl Stus, and a revised two-tier air-raid alert system.
Key points
- Shooting incident in Kyiv involved SBU and GUR personnel; Zelensky announced staffing decisions and dismissed SBU state-secrets department head Oleh Khramov on 3 September.
- SBU said it was searching a case involving an alleged assassination attempt on a Russian opposition figure; Babel sources identified the possible target as Akhmed Zakayev.
- NABU and SAP announced operation "Carthage" targeting an organised group led by an Office of the Prosecutor General official over alleged protection of scam call centres; ex-Official Serhiy Kropyva was placed under arrest with a ₴120 million bail alternative.
- US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv by train on 6 September and met Zelensky after a multi-hour Kremlin meeting with Putin; Putin reportedly ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days from midnight 6 September.
- Ukrainian forces struck a MiG-29 at Millerovo airfield and a Ka-27 helicopter at Yeysk airfield, attacked Russian ammunition and equipment depots, and hit the Nefrit vessel near Sochi and the BK-16 boat in Sevastopol on 2–3 September.
- A Russian drone struck the SBU headquarters in Kyiv, aiming at SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad's office (he was not present); a fire followed and was extinguished, and the nearby Consistory building of the "Sophia of Kyiv" reserve was damaged.
- National Bank put a new ₴2,000 banknote into circulation dedicated to the 90th anniversary of poet-dissident Vasyl Stus.
- Ukraine's air-raid alert system was split into two tiers: yellow for drone threat, red for missile, combined missile-drone, or mass drone attack; new alerts replace previous ones without a separate "all-clear".
- Croatian court postponed the 4 September extradition hearing for Ukrainian Volodymyr Zhuravlov, wanted by Germany over the Nord Stream sabotage, after Berlin added a "war crime" qualification to the European arrest warrant.
Why it matters
The Kyiv shooting is a rare public rupture between two of Ukraine's most powerful security agencies and has already cost a senior SBU official his job, with Zelensky promising further personnel moves; it is also entangled with an alleged assassination plot against a Russian opposition figure, raising the political stakes. The simultaneous "Carthage" operation shows anti-corruption investigators reaching into the Office of the Prosecutor General itself. Diplomatically, the Witkoff–Kushner shuttle from the Kremlin to Kyiv, paired with a reported Russian pause on strikes against the capital, signals an active US-led push around Trump's peace framework. Operationally, Ukraine's deep strikes on Russian airfields and naval assets, and Moscow's direct drone hit on the SBU headquarters, underline that the war's long-range exchanges continue even as talks advance. The ₴2,000 Stus banknote and the new two-tier alert system are smaller but symbolically and practically significant for Ukrainian civilians.
What happened
During the week of 1–6 September 2026, Kyiv saw a shooting incident connected to personnel from the SBU and GUR that sources linked to an SBU operation against an alleged plot to assassinate a Russian opposition figure, identified by Babel sources as Chechen leader Akhmed Zakayev. The SBU said it was acting in a case involving Zakayev's possible assassination and pointed to deputy RDK commander Stepan Kaplunov, who said he had been coerced; his lawyer said armed people came to his home and shots were fired after his comrades arrived. President Zelensky dismissed Oleh Khramov, head of the SBU's state-secrets protection department, on 3 September and announced further staffing decisions. RDK commander Denys Kapustin publicly distanced himself from how the affair was disclosed.
In a separate track, NABU and SAP announced operation "Carthage," targeting a criminal organisation led by an Office of the Prosecutor General official accused of taking money to shield scam call centres; former OGP international-cooperation department head Serhiy Kropyva was placed under arrest with a ₴120 million bail alternative.
Diplomatically, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled to Kyiv by train on 6 September, met Zelensky at a press conference, and announced a new Ukraine–US–Russia meeting and "significant progress" after their multi-hour Kremlin meeting with Putin. Russian media reported Putin ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days from midnight 6 September.
Militarily, Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian MiG-29 at Millerovo airfield and a Ka-27 at Yeysk airfield, hit Russian ammunition and equipment depots, and attacked the Nefrit near Sochi and the BK-16 boat in Sevastopol on 2–3 September. A Russian drone struck the SBU headquarters in Kyiv, aiming at chief Oleksandr Poklad's office while he was absent; a fire broke out and was extinguished, and the nearby Consistory of the "Sophia of Kyiv" reserve was damaged, with roughly ten people injured in the broader Shevchenkivskyi district strike.
The National Bank put a ₴2,000 banknote featuring Vasyl Stus into circulation for the 90th anniversary of his birth, and Ukraine's air-raid alert system was reorganised into two tiers (yellow for drone threat, red for missile, combined or mass-drone attack), with new alerts replacing previous ones without a separate "all-clear". In Croatia, the 4 September extradition hearing for Volodymyr Zhuravlov in the Nord Stream sabotage case was postponed after Germany added a "war crime" qualification to its European arrest warrant.
Where reporting differs
The two Ukrainian sources diverge on the central shooting incident: one frames it around the SBU's account that an alleged assassination plot targeting Akhmed Zakayev was being investigated and that Stepan Kaplunov confessed, while the other notes there was no official confirmation at publication time that an armed clash between the SBU and GUR had taken place, records Kaplunov's claim that his testimony was coerced, and adds his lawyer's account of armed men arriving at his home and shots being fired after his comrades rushed to the scene. They also differ on Kaplunov's status: the first presents the SBU's narrative of his involvement and alleged confession; the second reports his denial of coercion. Both identify Zakayev's circle as learning about the alleged plot only from the media and both note internal RDK tensions, but the second adds RDK commander Denys Kapustin's public disagreement with how the affair was disclosed.
Background
The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) is officially described by Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR) as part of its "Tymur Special Unit." Vasyl Stus was a Soviet-era Ukrainian poet and dissident, and 2025 marked the 90th anniversary of his birth. Volodymyr Zhuravlov is a Ukrainian national sought by Germany in connection with the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.