It was a scene few expected to see in wartime Ukraine: a gunfight between two state security agencies on the streets of the capital. On the morning of September 2, 2026, a confrontation between Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and military intelligence (HUR) erupted into gunfire in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district, leaving three military intelligence personnel wounded and several individuals detained.
The incident took place on Yuriya Shums’koho Street in the Bereznyaky neighborhood, a residential area of Kyiv. What started as a standoff quickly escalated into a shooting that shocked the nation and drew a sharp rebuke from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the center of the dispute was Stepan Kaplunov, the deputy commander for combat operations of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK)—a unit of Russian nationals fighting on Ukraine’s side, which operates under the HUR. The trouble began days earlier. On August 23, 2026, Kaplunov was reportedly detained or “abducted” near his home. On September 1, the Russian Volunteer Corps publicly announced his disappearance, alleging he had been taken by unknown individuals. That set the stage for what happened next.
Overnight on September 1–2, SBU officers arrived at Kaplunov’s apartment to conduct a search. But when they got there, they found HUR personnel and Kaplunov’s friends already inside. A standoff ensued. By the morning of September 2, the situation had deteriorated into violence. According to Taras Borovskiy, Kaplunov’s lawyer, an agreement had been reached between the SBU unit commander and HUR representatives to allow the search to proceed peacefully. But then, Borovskiy said, “other SBU personnel” opened fire. A HUR commander later claimed that SBU agents were “detaining HUR personnel and opening fire without warning.”
The SBU deployed its elite Alpha special forces unit to the scene. During the confrontation, someone fired shots. At that point, a fighter affiliated with HUR reportedly drew a pistol, prompting SBU special forces to open fire on him. The shooting left three HUR personnel wounded. Two were reported to be in serious condition—one with a leg wound and a severed artery, the other hospitalized in critical condition. The SBU detained several individuals who resisted, identified as belonging to “one of the units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” which media reports attributed to HUR. The street was blocked off by police, and witnesses reported seeing wounded individuals and blood at the scene.
The incident sparked immediate political fallout. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the shootout “absolutely disgraceful,” stating that “the only people anyone should be shooting at are the Russian occupiers, in defense of Ukraine.” He ordered a full investigation and demanded “personnel decisions” by the heads of both the SBU and HUR. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Presidential Office and former HUR chief, called for a “thorough and impartial investigation,” adding that “no one has the right to kidnap servicemen with impunity, open fire on the streets of our cities.” The Prosecutor General’s Office launched a criminal probe into the incident.
As for Kaplunov, he has since been released, though his current whereabouts remain unknown. The SBU initially claimed it had worked jointly with HUR to prevent an FSB-planned terrorist attack against a Russian opposition leader. However, the agency later issued a contradictory statement saying it had resisted a “group of individuals” who attacked its officers. HUR has not officially commented on the incident.
What began as a dispute over a detained soldier ended in a rare and alarming public clash between two pillars of Ukraine’s defense establishment. As the investigation unfolds, the bigger question remains: how did a disagreement between allies escalate into gunfire on the streets of Kyiv?
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