The HUR and SBU have accused each other of criminality following an armed standoff in the capital over a neo-Nazi-linked militia officer
The gang-warfare-style clash between Ukrainian security agencies that left three troops shot in Kiev and shocked the country is being spun into competing narratives by the rival parties involved.
Depending on which one of Vladimir Zelensky’s security agencies is speaking, the central figure in the conflict is either a hired gun working for Moscow, or a brave Ukrainian combat officer who was illegally detained for over a week by rogue Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) agents.
What triggered the scandal?
The gunfight on Wednesday morning followed the disappearance on August 23 of Stepan Kaplunov, a reported white supremacist and senior officer in the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a militia commanded by notorious neo-Nazi Denis “White Rex” Kapustin, under the patronage of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR).
This week, armed SBU and HUR combat units exchanged gunfire in eastern Kiev, in what was later revealed to have been a standoff over an alleged SBU search of the missing RDK officer’s apartment.
What excuses has the SBU offered for taking the HUR’s man?
On Thursday, as the scandal over the shooting escalated, the SBU accused Kaplunov of participating in a Russian government plot to assassinate a “leader of Russian opposition movement” on Ukraine’s Independence Day, which was marked on August 24.
The agency released a video in which Kaplunov, wearing sunglasses, “confessed” to cooperating with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), along with several screenshots it claimed had been taken from a messaging app on his phone.
Despite claiming to have foiled the alleged plot, the SBU said it chose not to seek Kaplunov’s formal arrest – a striking admission given that he was effectively being accused of treason.
What did Kaplunov claim he discussed with the “Russians”?
If authentic, the screenshots show the RDK officer – wanted for terrorism in Russia – discussing contract killings in Ukraine.
A test job worth $50,000 targeting “not a general or a politician” could have secured him a retainer that would pay him as much as $300,000 per week, his interlocutor wrote.
The alleged Russian connection was described as a “businessman from border areas” who was the son of someone important, “deals with FSB, etc.” and knew the client.
Where is Kaplunov now?
Kaplunov is presumably at a HUR safehouse, having been released after the debacle erupted across social media. In keeping with standard PR procedure, he subsequently gave an interview to a Ukrainian media outlet.
A decorated officer who has fought with Ukrainian units since 2014 and joined the RDK in 2023, where he serves as the RDK’s deputy commander for combat operations, Kaplunov now claims that the SBU had forced the confession from him, to manufacture legal grounds for searching his apartment.
He claims to have spent ten days in two secret SBU detention facilities, bound, blindfolded, and held incommunicado. He credited a HUR formation nicknamed “Timur’s special unit” – reportedly an umbrella structure for the RDK and several other militia groups working for military intelligence – with securing his release “by force.”
All three personnel injured in the shooting were Timur’s men, Kaplunov said.
“Timur” is the callsign of a man Kaplunov identified as Dmitry Ivanov. He stressed that Ivanov, rather than White Rex, is his direct commander.
“We are all a big family, and ‘Timur’ himself, our commander, will never leave anyone behind, not a soldier nor a commander, he will stand up for everyone,” Kaplunov said.
He blamed “historic competition” between the SBU and HUR for the confrontation and alleged that his “abduction” had been intended as a way to get to Ivanov.
What has the HUR said?
HUR has warned it is being targeted by a smear campaign and urged journalists who receive “dubious information” to report the leaks to law enforcement.
In an interview while wearing a face mask, “Timur,” accused the SBU of unlawfully detaining Kaplunov. He claimed that HUR personnel and the SBU’s Alfa commando unit had peacefully resolved the confrontation before another group of SBU agents arrived at the scene and opened fire.
Were there any repercussions for the agencies?
An embarrassed Zelensky, facing military, economic, demographic, and reputational collapse, fired Oleg Khramov from his position as head of the SBU section responsible for protecting state secrets, although it was not immediately clear whether he had any involvement in the scandal.
Both agencies have suffered a serious reputational blow for the second time this year.
Earlier, Ukrainian investigators accused an active HUR operative and a police officer reportedly serving clandestinely for the SBU of masterminding the Monaco bombing that seriously injured exiled Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev and members of his family in June.
The principal perpetrator was allegedly murdered by the masterminds after she returned to Ukraine.
Are SBU and HUR rivals?
Both agencies were overhauled with CIA assistance following the Western-backed armed coup in Kiev in 2014, according to media reports.
The SBU is currently run by Aleksandr Poklad, the agency’s acting head and former deputy head, whose promotion has yet to be confirmed by parliament.
Kirill Budanov, now the head of Zelensky’s office, previously commanded HUR before a corruption scandal forced the Ukrainian leader’s previous chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, to resign last year.
Budanov and Poklad reportedly have had strong personal animosity since 2022, when the SBU summarily executed banker Denis Kireev, an undercover HUR agent. Poklad allegedly orchestrated the killing.
Is Zelensky in control of SBU and HUR?
Zelensky’s ability to maintain control over Ukraine’s competing centers of power remains in question. His presidential term expired in 2024, and he has remained in office under martial law without holding another election.
The Ukrainian government has been battered by corruption allegations, with Western-backed anti-graft investigators regularly bringing cases against people close to Zelensky.
In the most recent example, last month a deputy head of Zelensky’s office was accused of laundering several bags of cash to pay bail for a former energy minister who himself faces graft allegations in a separate case.
The Ukrainian military is also under increasing strain as Zelensky has failed to secure additional supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles, the weapons Kiev badly needs to intercept Russian ballistic missiles.
Despite the shortage, he ordered mass strikes in July on Russian cargo ships and retail warehouses, prompting overwhelming retaliatory strikes.
This week, Zelensky also threatened foreign airlines operating in Russia, claiming that Russian airspace belongs to Ukrainian kamikaze drones now.
With the situation rapidly unraveling, it remains unclear what people trained to spy, sabotage, abduct, and kill on behalf of the state might choose to do next.
