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

A group of people attempted to obstruct investigative actions and used vehicles to block law enforcement officers from leaving the area, the SBU said in a statement on Sept. 2.

The agency deployed its Alpha special operations unit, which used firearms.

Several people who resisted the officers were wounded and later detained, the SBU said. The agency said they belonged to one of Ukraine’s Defense Forces units.

Weapons and documents were seized from the detained individuals.

“All circumstances of the incident, the role of each participant and the final legal classification of their actions are currently being established,” the SBU said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office separately announced an investigation into alleged threats and attempts on the lives of SBU officers.

Reports point to confrontation involving military intelligence personnel

Suspilne reported that the incident involved a confrontation between SBU officers and personnel from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, or HUR.

A lawyer representing Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander for combat operations of the Russian Volunteer Corps who had previously been reported missing, said the SBU and GUR had allegedly reached an agreement on the evening of Sept. 1 regarding a search of Kaplunov’s apartment and his transfer to military intelligence.

The lawyer claimed that renewed gunfire broke out on the morning of Sept. 2 and that three HUR personnel were wounded.

Those claims were not independently confirmed in the material provided.

President’s Office chief and former HUR head Kyrylo Budanov told RBC-Ukraine that the State Bureau of Investigation, or SBI, was already handling the incident.

“It is important to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation, but no one has the right to abduct servicemembers with impunity, open fire on the streets of our cities, or issue and carry out criminal orders,” Budanov said.

What is known about the Sept. 2 shooting in Kyiv

Reports of gunfire involving SBU and HUR personnel emerged overnight and on the morning of Sept. 2 in Kyiv’s Berezniaky neighborhood.

The Kyiv City State Administration said traffic had been blocked on Yurii Shumskyi Street.

The SBU earlier said it had prevented an assassination attempt against a leader of a Russian opposition movement who had traveled to Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day.

That announcement came after Russian Volunteer Corps chief of staff Oleksandr Fortuna said on Sept. 1 that Kaplunov had been abducted in Kyiv several days earlier.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that the Sept. 2 shooting was connected to Kaplunov’s disappearance.