Zelenskyy condemns Kyiv shootout between Ukrainian spy agencies as 'disgraceful'

In central Kyiv, a shootout between two branches of Ukraine’s security services left several people injured, an incident that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “disgraceful”.

The shooting took place on Wednesday morning in a downtown area of the capital. It involved officers from the domestic security service, the SBU, and the military intelligence directorate, the HUR.

In a statement on Thursday, the SBU said the shootout “definitely shouldn’t have happened” and confirmed it was assisting state investigators.

According to local media, the clash began during the SBU’s search of an apartment linked to an investigation into a Russian man fighting for Ukraine under HUR supervision, who had recently been arrested by the SBU. HUR officers arrived at the scene, and shots were fired, injuring three HUR officers.

The SBU stated that, together with the HUR, it had prevented a Russian-backed terrorist plot aimed at a Russian opposition leader who had recently arrived in Ukraine. In a separate statement, the SBU said its officers had come under armed attack while conducting an investigation and returned fire.

On Thursday, the SBU released a video of the detained Russian national. In the video, the man claims he was contacted by a Russian individual working for Moscow’s intelligence agency, who attempted to recruit him to assassinate Ukrainian defence personnel and other figures. The man’s lawyer told local media that the video was recorded under duress and was released to justify the shootout. The man has since been released from SBU custody.

Hours after the incident, Zelenskyy dismissed Oleh Khramov, the SBU’s head of the department for the protection of state secrets.

“Shooting here in Ukraine is permitted only at Russian occupiers, in defence of Ukraine. Our state will never regard any other shootout as acceptable,” Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post.

The incident occurs at a politically sensitive time for Zelenskyy. He has recently faced calls from a dismissed defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, to hold wartime elections. Fedorov’s dismissal triggered protests and posed one of the largest internal challenges to Zelenskyy’s authority since Russia’s invasion began.

Zelenskyy also recently dismissed a deputy chief of staff amid reports she was under investigation for alleged involvement in a money-laundering scheme.

The president stated that the shooting required investigation by both the SBU and the HUR. Ukraine’s main investigative agency has also launched a probe.

In a separate incident on Thursday morning, a 71-year-old man was shot outside a medical clinic in Kyiv and remains in “serious condition”, according to the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office. An investigation into attempted intentional murder is underway.

These events occur as Kyiv endures heavy Russian bombardment, with air raid alerts active both day and night. Across Ukraine, at least five people were killed in strikes on Wednesday night. The country is experiencing a critical shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors needed to counter Russian ballistic missiles.