Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate has accused the Security Service of Ukraine of abducting one of its officers, escalating tensions following a reported gunfight between personnel from the two agencies in Kyiv.
The commander of the Main Intelligence Directorate’s “Timur Special Unit,” which includes the Russian Volunteer Corps, said a combat commander from one of the intelligence agency’s units had been abducted in broad daylight by SBU officers.
“A combat commander of one of the GUR units was abducted. Abducted in broad daylight. Abducted by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine. He was detained without official charges. Of course, you are interested in the reason. We are interested in it too. That is why we are doing everything on our side to ensure that procedural actions are carried out in accordance with current legislation,” he said in comments requested by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The commander, who goes by the call sign “Timur,” said the head of the SBU’s Alpha special unit personally arrived at the scene and attempted to resolve the situation together with him.
According to Timur, the two sides had already reached an agreement on how the subsequent procedural measures would be conducted when SBU personnel who were not part of Alpha began detaining unarmed GUR representatives. He said the SBU personnel subsequently opened fire on them without warning.
“We respect our combat brothers-in-arms from the Security Service of Ukraine. No random people in the SBU should discredit the achievements of combat officers. And we believe that the Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Bureau of Investigation will bring this case to a worthy conclusion,” Timur said.
He did not identify the intelligence officer he said had been abducted. However, RBC-Ukraine, citing a source, had previously reported that the person involved was Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps.
Kaplunov’s lawyer, Taras Borovsky, was also present at the scene of the gunfight and confirmed that three GUR personnel had been wounded.
The SBU has offered a sharply different account of the incident. The agency said its officers were carrying out investigative measures to gather evidence as part of a pre-trial investigation into a terrorist attack allegedly organised by Russia’s Federal Security Service, when they were attacked by an armed group.
The SBU said it had itself called in the Alpha special unit. The agency did not deny using firearms during the incident or wounding several people.
By Tamilla Hasanova
