“ A shootout took place in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv
between military intelligence and security service agents.
It is reported that three military intelligence officers
were injured. Representatives of the State Investigation Bureau and the head of
the “A” special operations center of the SBU arrived at the scene of the
confrontation. According to “Ukrainska Pravda”, three employees of the Main
Intelligence Directorate were injured during the conflict.
After that, representatives of both special services began
to gather at the scene. Later, investigators from the State Investigation
Bureau arrived, and the parties agreed to lay down their weapons so that
investigative actions could begin
Ukrainian media reports that at present, outsiders are not
allowed to the scene of the incident, however, according to sources in law
enforcement agencies, the head of the “A” special operations center of the
Security Service of Ukraine also arrived there.
September 1 The Russian Volunteer Corps stated that their
deputy commander for combat training, Stepan Kaplunov, was kidnapped in the
yard of his house by unknown persons. The State Investigation Bureau, Ukrainska
Pravda, confirmed to the press that it had received a statement from the
soldier’s lawyers about the kidnapping and indicated that investigators were
examining it with a view to qualifying the act and including the information in
the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.
Police blocked Shumsky Street in the Dnipro district of
Kyiv, where, according to Ukrainska Pravda, a confrontation between the
services took place. A certain group of individuals attacked the UST
operational-investigative group. With the help of the Alfa special operations
unit, the attack was suppressed, and the attackers were detained. This was
stated in the UST report.
In addition, as the UST later explained, during the
pre-trial investigation into the case of a terrorist act organized by the
Russian FSB, UST employees carried out urgent investigative actions to collect
and record evidence. “During a search at one of the addresses, a group of
individuals committed an armed attack on the UST operational-investigative
group. They tried to prevent the investigation and blocked the passage of law
enforcement officers with cars,” the report notes. The special unit of the UST
Special Operations Center “Alfa” was used to suppress the attack and ensure the
safety of the participants in the process. When suppressing the armed
resistance, law enforcement officers used weapons. “There are wounded among the
resisting individuals. The attackers have been detained,” the report states.
Among the detainees are servicemen
It was determined that the detainees belong to one of the
units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Weapons and documents were seized from
them. Currently, all the circumstances of the incident, the role of each
participant, and the issue of the final legal qualification of their actions
are being determined. Against the backdrop of these events, the Kyiv City State
Administration reported on its Telegram channel that police in Kyiv had blocked
traffic on Yuriy Shumsky Street, which changed public transport routes. At the
same time, the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper noted that a “confrontation between
the UST and the VZV” took place on the blocked Yu. Shumsky Street in the
Dnieper district. According to UP sources, three people were injured on the VZV
side.
On the morning of September 2, information appeared on
social networks about a shootout between the UST and the VZV in the Dnieper
district of Kyiv and that it was related to the disappearance of Stepan
Kaplunov, deputy commander of the VZV unit “Russian Volunteer Corps” for combat
training. UP journalists added that representatives of both special services –
the UST and the VZV – began to gather at the scene. Later, investigators from
the State Bureau of Investigation (VTB) arrived, and the parties agreed to
repair the weapons (unload weapons) so that investigative actions could be
started. Outsiders are not allowed to the scene of the incident, but according
to law enforcement sources, the head of UST SOC “A” also arrived there.
Lawyer Taras Borovsky commented on these events on the
social network “Facebook”. According to him, “it became clear who kidnapped the
VŽV soldier Stepan Hryhorovych Kaplunov”. According to the lawyer, law
enforcement officers came to S. Kaplunov’s house “with the aim of throwing
something forbidden into the apartment that had been empty for a long time”.
“A unit of friends of the missing soldier was raised by the
alarm. Shots were heard,” T. Borovsky reported.
Reaction of K. Budanov and the Prosecutor General’s Office
The head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov reacted to the situation.
Commenting on the situation to “RBC-Ukraine”, the head of the PK noted that the
matter is already being investigated by VTB and the Prosecutor General’s
Office. “It is important to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation, but
no one has the right to kidnap soldiers with impunity, open fire on the streets
of our cities, give and execute criminal orders,” said K. Budanov. As reported
by the Prosecutor General’s Office, a pre-trial investigation has been launched
into threats and attempts on the life of a law enforcement officer. Comment
from S. Kaplunov’s lawyer Lawyer Taras Borovsky told reporters in a comment
(the video was distributed by RBC-Ukraine) that before these events on August
23, his client Stepan Kaplunov was “kidnapped” – the person was forcibly pushed
into a car and taken away in an unknown direction. He insists, that it was
precisely a kidnapping, not a detention, because detention requires a protocol,
the participation of a lawyer, ensuring procedural rights and the imposition of
a preventive measure. According to him, on the night of September 2, UST
employees arrived at S. Kaplunov's apartment and "brought him there to
conduct an urgent search in his presence." At the same time, according to
the lawyer, in this apartment "in a sense, employees of the Main
Intelligence Directorate were waiting for them, who raised the alarm, and
friends of the service began to gather here." "The first groups that
arrived were attacked - employees of the Security Service of Ukraine opened
fire on them," the lawyer said. According to the lawyer, this happened in
the yard near the staircase of the house. After the first shots, UST employees
detained S. Kaplunov's friends of the service. Later, VŽV employees gathered, a
verbal conflict broke out, which was resolved through the efforts of the
commander of the VŽV special unit "Timur". The lawyer noted that it
was eventually agreed that the UST representatives would release S. Kaplunov
and other soldiers, and the VŽV representatives would unblock the road for the
UST car. After these agreements, the VŽV soldiers began to withdraw, only a
small group remained at the scene. However, according to T. Borovskis, at the
end of the investigative actions before the morning, when the final inspection
report was to be signed, the UST officers “began to pull our soldiers and drag
them into their car”. “At that time, the balance of power was as follows: about
30 UST employees and up to ten of us. Accordingly, our group began to defend
their friends with their bare hands, pulling them back. The UST employees
reacted aggressively. They ordered everyone to retreat and opened fire,” the
lawyer emphasized. According to T. Borovskis, at first these were warning
shots, and later some UST employees “allowed themselves to open fire on
people”. As a result, “one of our soldiers was seriously injured”, “a second
soldier was also seriously injured, we are crossing our fingers for his life”.
A third soldier was also slightly injured. An ambulance was later called.”
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