HUR MoD (Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence)
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR MO) is a special intelligence agency within Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, tasked with military intelligence and operations abroad. It is headed by Kyrylo Budanov. The directorate has played a prominent role in intelligence and security during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
-
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.