Alpha special unit
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Ukraine military intelligence chief calls Kyiv SBU–HUR shooting "unacceptable," denies "war between special services"
Head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) Oleh Ivashchenko publicly commented on the September 2 shooting between SBU and HUR personnel in Kyiv, calling it an "unacceptable incident" and rejecting suggestions of a "war between special services." The shooting occurred in the Berezniaky district during investigative actions linked to Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov. The SBU and HUR have given competing accounts of the incident, and the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Prosecutor General have opened pretrial investigations.
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HUR warns of disinformation campaign targeting military intelligence amid SBU clash
Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) said on 3 September that a targeted disinformation campaign is being deployed to discredit military intelligence and its combat units, urging the public to trust only verified official sources and asking journalists to report any paid offers of dubious material. The warning came against the backdrop of an armed confrontation between HUR and the SBU in Kyiv on 2 September tied to the detention of Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov, and was followed by President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissing an SBU department head and calling the SBU–HUR clash "shameful."
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Kyiv shootout between SBU and GUR erupts over alleged FSB plot against Chechen exile leader Zakayev
Ukraine's SBU said it prevented an FSB-ordered plot to assassinate Akhmed Zakayev, the exiled head of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria's government, who was in Kyiv for Independence Day on 24 August. The case targeted Stepan Kaplunov, a Russian-national volunteer and deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) embedded in a GUR special unit. On 2 September, a shootout in Kyiv's Berezniaky district during a search of Kaplunov's apartment left three GUR personnel wounded. Kaplunov and RDK say he was abducted by SBU officers on 23 August and his confession was extracted under pressure; the SBU says his group attacked its investigative team. President Zelensky called the incident 'absolutely shameful,' an SBU official was dismissed, and the DBR and Prosecutor General's Office opened investigations.
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Armed clash between SBU and HUR in Kyiv linked to missing Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander
On the morning of 2 September, an armed confrontation broke out on Yurii Shumskoho Street in Kyiv's Dnipro district between operatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and personnel of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defence. The SBU said its Alpha unit used weapons against an armed group that attacked its investigative team during a search tied to a joint SBU–HUR operation that allegedly foiled an FSB terrorist plot against a Russian opposition figure in Ukraine for Independence Day. Media and Kaplunov's lawyer say the shooting was opened by the SBU against unarmed HUR personnel after a handshake agreement, with several HUR servicemen wounded. President Zelensky condemned the incident as "absolutely shameful" and signalled personnel decisions and internal investigations.
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Zelensky dismisses senior SBU official after Kyiv shootout between GUR and SBU
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on 2 September dismissing Oleh Vitaliyovych Khramov from his post as head of the SBU's Department of State Secrets Protection and Licensing. The move follows an armed clash in Kyiv's Dnipro district between personnel of Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR) and the Security Service (SBU), connected to the reported abduction of Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov.