Full story
Kyiv shootout erupts
A shootout in Kyiv left three officers wounded after Ukraine’s Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the military intelligence directorate, the HUR, clashed during a search tied to Stepan Kaplunov, the Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander for combat operations, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.
“security was already inside the apartment”
The New Voice of Ukraine said the gunfire broke out outside Kaplunov’s apartment in the Berezniaky residential microdistrict, where Kaplunov told Radio NV that “security was already inside the apartment.”
The New Voice of Ukraine also said Kaplunov remained inside the apartment and heard the exchange of gunfire through the window, while AOL.co.uk reported the incident took place “in central Kyiv” on Wednesday morning and that three HUR officers were injured.
AOL.co.uk further reported that the SBU said it and the HUR had foiled a Russian-backed terrorist plot targeting a Russian opposition leader who had arrived in Ukraine for Ukraine’s Independence Day, and that the SBU said it came under armed attack while conducting an investigation.
Zelensky demands accountability
Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the shootout as “disgraceful,” and AOL.co.uk said the president fired the SBU’s head of the department for the protection of state secrets, Oleh Khramov, hours after the incident.
AOL.co.uk quoted Zelenskyy writing that “Shooting here in Ukraine is permitted only at Russian occupiers, in defence of Ukraine,” and said the president also told that the shooting needed to be investigated by both the SBU and the HUR.
In parallel, The New York Times reported that Zelensky described the clash as an “absolutely shameful event” and ordered an investigation, while also describing an hourslong standoff early on Wednesday morning outside Kaplunov’s apartment.
The New York Times said the domestic intelligence agency accused Kaplunov of plotting an assassination on behalf of the Russian security service, and that he was released after he confessed, with Kaplunov and others saying the confession was coerced.
Rival accounts, wider fallout
The New Voice of Ukraine reported that Stepan Kaplunov’s attorney said his client is already free, and that Kaplunov confirmed his client was taken away by fighters from HUR’s Tymur unit to “a secure, safe location under the protection of our fighters.”
“a secure, safe location under the protection of our fighters”
The New Voice of Ukraine also said Kaplunov’s information about detention of the shooters remained “contradictory,” while it described the SBU’s separate account that it had been carrying out urgent investigative actions and that it released screenshots of correspondence allegedly retrieved from Kaplunov’s phone.
AOL.co.uk said the SBU released a video of the Russian national fighting for Ukraine who had been arrested last month, and that the man’s lawyer told local media the video was being released to “whitewash” the shootout.
AOL.co.uk added that the incident came as Zelenskyy faced calls from Mykhailo Fedorov to hold wartime elections, and that Zelenskyy said the shooting needed investigation by both agencies while Ukraine’s main investigative agency opened an investigation.