Main Intelligence Directorate
HUR (Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine) is the military intelligence branch of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. It conducts military intelligence operations, including foreign intelligence and special operations. The director is appointed by the President of Ukraine on the nomination of the Minister of Defence.
-
Ukraine's top commander submits first "war plan" to security council, transfers dozens of generals to reserve
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi has prepared a so-called "war plan" and submitted it for review to the National Security and Defense Council (RNBO), according to Ukrainska Pravda. The document, reportedly the first of its kind for Ukraine, has been under consideration by the RNBO for several weeks. Separately, Drapatyi has moved dozens of colonels, brigadier generals, and other senior officers into the reserve battalion over the past six weeks.
-
Ukraine hits Volgograd oil refinery and Samara Transneft hub in overnight drone strikes
On the night of October 2, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck oil infrastructure in Russia's Volgograd and Samara oblasts, hitting the Lukoil-Volgograd oil refinery and the LVDS "Samara" Transneft dispatch station. Ukraine's General Staff confirmed both strikes, and President Volodymyr Zelensky described them as a fair response to Russian escalation. The attacks came despite US pressure on Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities.
-
Ukraine strikes Moscow oil refinery and logistics complex in largest drone attack on Russian capital
In the night of 19–20 September 2026, Ukraine launched a massive drone and missile attack on Moscow and Moscow Oblast, hitting the Gazpromneft Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya and a warehouse complex in Sofyino. Fires broke out at both sites. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called it the largest drone attack ever on the Russian capital. At least two people were killed and six injured across Moscow Oblast, and more than 400 flights were cancelled or delayed at Moscow airports. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the operation involved the SBU, Unmanned Systems Forces, SSO, HUR and Foreign Intelligence Service.
-
Ukraine hits Rostov airfield and Yaroslavl oil refinery in overnight strikes
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck a military airfield in Rostov-on-Don and the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl on the night of September 17. The SBU carried out the airfield strike, while the refinery hit was a joint operation of the SBU, the Unmanned Systems Forces, military intelligence (HUR) and the Foreign Intelligence Service. Russian governors reported no casualties from either attack.
-
Ukraine says Belarus has reactivated signal repeaters boosting Russian drones near Polish border
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service says Belarus has switched back on signal repeaters on its territory that boost Russian Shahed and Gerber drones, allowing them to fly deeper into western Ukraine. Spokesperson Andriy Demchenko said the repeaters, which had been turned off after a presidential warning in June, are now active again and supported recent strikes on Rivne, Volyn and Lviv oblasts, including the September 13 attack on the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland.
-
Trump announces Russia–Ukraine energy-strike deal; Kyiv says no agreement exists yet
On September 14, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to mutually stop targeting each other's energy facilities. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow confirmed the claim. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to refrain from striking Russian infrastructure only if partners guarantee Russia would stop striking Ukrainian energy and other critical infrastructure, and he stressed no final deal exists.
-
Ukraine strikes Russian naval base in Novorossiysk and multiple targets in occupied Crimea and Donbas
On 8 September and overnight into 9 September 2026, Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a series of Russian military targets, including the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk where the Kalibr-carrying frigate 'Admiral Essen' was hit. Other strikes hit a patrol boat in occupied Sevastopol, electronic-intelligence and command-and-measurement antennas in Crimea, and drone storage and ammunition depots in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Ukrainian officials and OSINT channels reported the damage; the mayor of Novorossiysk acknowledged a fire but attributed it to falling debris.
-
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.
-
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."
-
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.
-
Assassination attempt on Russian general in Engels days after Ukraine notified him of suspicion over Okhmatdyt strike
An unknown assailant on a motorcycle shot and critically wounded a Russian Aerospace Forces officer on the morning of 3 September in the settlement of Probuzhdeniye near Engels, Saratov Oblast. Russian media identified the victim as Major General Mykola Varpakhovych, commander of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division. The attack came three days after Ukraine's SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General notified Varpakhovych in absentia of suspicion in connection with the July 2024 missile strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Ukrainian drones hit Novatek-Ust-Luga oil complex in Leningrad Oblast, sparking large fire
Ukrainian forces struck the Novatek-Ust-Luga oil-processing complex in Russia's Leningrad Oblast overnight from August 31 to September 1, hitting key refining and technological equipment and triggering a large-scale fire. The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence reported the attack, which was carried out using drones. It was the second reported Ukrainian strike on the same facility in August.