Two Factions Face-Off In Kyiv Making Streets Run With Blood

Conflict Tracker

Russia-Ukraine An extraordinary confrontation between Ukraine’s two most powerful intelligence agencies escalated into gunfire in Kyiv on 2 September, leaving three military intelligence personnel wounded.

This is the story so far as we know it…

The incident centres on Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a formation subordinated to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, the GUR. Kaplunov reportedly disappeared outside his home on 23 August. His unit and lawyer described the incident as an abduction, claiming the SBU held him without formal charges or access to legal counsel.

SBU officers later returned with Kaplunov to search his apartment on Yuri Shumsky Street. Personnel from the GUR’s Timur special unit gathered at the location, resulting in an armed standoff between the agencies.

The SBU claims GUR-linked personnel blocked its vehicles, attacked its investigative team and offered armed resistance. SBU Alpha operators were subsequently deployed and opened fire while suppressing the alleged attack. And as incidents such as this go, there are two sides to every story… Timur’s commander provides the opposite account. He claims an agreement had already been reached with the Alpha commander to complete the search peacefully, but other SBU personnel then attempted to detain unarmed GUR officers and opened fire without warning. Three GUR personnel were wounded, with Kaplunov’s lawyer claiming two remain in serious condition. Reports of fatalities remain unconfirmed. Video of the confrontation has emerged, although it does not establish which side fired first. The SBU says the wider operation concerned an FSB assassination plot against a Russian opposition figure, believed to be Kaplunov. His lawyer rejects this explanation and says authorities have not disclosed the legal basis for his detention.

If we’re going to talk about an embarrassing situation for President Volodymyr Zelensky, this is definitely a highlight. One major note I want to make here is that incidents such as this often break the rose-tinted lens the west can naively have on Ukraine. Another equally embarrassing situation was the corruption scandal with Zelensky’s long-time righthand man, Yermak, who had to flee the country. Zelensky called the confrontation “absolutely disgraceful” and ordered investigations by the State Bureau of Investigation, Prosecutor General and both agencies internally.

The incident represents more than a failed operation. It provides rare public evidence of the institutional rivalry developing between the SBU and GUR, whose resources, operational reach and political influence have expanded enormously during the war. And this is not an isolated incident, both the SBU and GUR have been at odds with each other long before the conflict began. But since the outbreak of full-scale war the political power of both groups has significantly increased.