SBU says armed group attacked officers during searches linked to alleged FSB plot

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that its officers were targeted by armed assailants during searches in Kyiv linked to an alleged Russian FSB plot. On September 2, a group sought to impede investigative efforts by obstructing law enforcement with vehicles. The SBU's Alpha special operations unit responded with firearms, resulting in wounded individuals who were detained.

The detained were reportedly from a Ukrainian Defense Forces unit. The SBU stated that an investigation was underway into the incident's circumstances, participants' roles, and legal classification of their actions. Concurrently, the Prosecutor General's Office initiated an investigation into threats and attempts against SBU officers' lives.

The incident involved a clash between SBU and personnel from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR). A lawyer for Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, alleged that the SBU and HUR had agreed on Kaplunov's apartment search and transfer to military intelligence on September 1. Renewed gunfire erupted the following day, injuring three HUR personnel.

President's Office chief and former HUR head Kyrylo Budanov called for a thorough and impartial investigation, emphasizing that no one should evade consequences for abducting servicemembers, opening fire in city streets, or issuing and executing criminal orders. Reports of gunfire in Kyiv's Berezniaky neighborhood emerged overnight and on the morning of September 2.

The Kyiv City State Administration reported traffic blockages on Yurii Shumskyi Street. The SBU had earlier announced preventing an assassination attempt on a Russian opposition leader in Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day, following an announcement by Russian Volunteer Corps chief of staff Oleksandr Fortuna that Kaplunov had been abducted in Kyiv several days earlier. Ukrainska Pravda reported the shooting was related to Kaplunov's disappearance.