Ukraine Probes Kyiv Shootout Between Security Agencies

An internal investigation is seeking to determine what caused a dispute between the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Defense Ministry’s HUR military intelligence directorate to escalate into a shootout in central Kyiv on Tuesday. Three HUR members were injured.

The incident is linked to the nine-day disappearance of a Russian nationalist activist fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. He says the SBU detained him and forced him to sign a confession admitting that he had collaborated with Russian intelligence. He later retracted the statement.

The armed clash followed a search of the activist’s apartment in Kyiv. SBU officers opened fire on HUR members. The SBU said it was acting to prevent an alleged Moscow-inspired plot to assassinate Russian anti-Kremlin activists in the capital.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the truth must come out and that such situations must not recur. The results of the internal investigation will also be used to assess the heads of both agencies. He added that both sides had acted in a way that should not have happened.

Two servicemen from the two agencies have been issued notices of suspicion in connection with the incident. Zelensky has also dismissed Oleh Khramov, head of the SBU’s department for the protection of state secrets.

(Reuters, bak)