{"id":17210,"date":"2026-09-03T18:56:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=17210"},"modified":"2026-09-03T18:56:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:56:55","slug":"zelensky-slams-ukrainian-spy-agencies-for-infighting-during-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/zelensky-slams-ukrainian-spy-agencies-for-infighting-during-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky Slams Ukrainian Spy Agencies for Infighting During Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Armed personnel from Ukraine&#8217;s Security Service (SBU) and Defence Intelligence Unit clashed in a courtyard in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday, according to Chris Bradford writing in <em>New York Post<\/em>. The confrontation escalated to gunfire, leaving three officers wounded in what has become an embarrassing public spectacle for the war-torn nation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zelensky<\/strong> took to Telegram to express his outrage at the inter-agency violence, demanding accountability and internal investigations from both security services.<\/p>\n<p>The Ukrainian leader made clear that firearms should be directed only at Russian forces. <em>Here in Ukraine, the only permissible use of firearms is against Russian occupiers in defense of the country,<\/em> Zelensky wrote, adding that the state would never tolerate such shootouts.<\/p>\n<h2>SBU Claims Armed Ambush During Counter-Terror Operation<\/h2>\n<p>The SBU maintained its agents came under armed assault while attempting to prevent a terrorist attack orchestrated by Russia&#8217;s Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the agency, unknown assailants used vehicles to block their officers and obstruct their investigative work.<\/p>\n<p>SBU personnel only later discovered the attackers belonged to one of Ukraine&#8217;s own defense force units. Weapons and documents were confiscated at the scene.<\/p>\n<p>One Defence Intelligence Unit agent sustained a severed artery after being shot in the leg and remains in serious condition. Two additional officers were wounded, one seriously.<\/p>\n<h2>Conflicting Narratives Over Alleged Abduction<\/h2>\n<p>The SBU asserts the operation aimed to thwart a plot against <strong>Stepan Kaplunov<\/strong>, deputy commander of the anti-Kremlin Russian Volunteer Corps. The Russian Volunteer Corps had reported Tuesday that Kaplunov was abducted from his courtyard by unidentified individuals, according to chief of staff <strong>Aleksandr Fortuna<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Taras Borovskyi<\/strong>, Kaplunov&#8217;s attorney, dismissed the SBU version of events as a public relations stunt. He confirmed reports that his client had been seized, later released, though his current location remains unknown.<\/p>\n<p>Kaplunov, a Russian-born former Russian army soldier who deployed to Syria, has fought for Ukraine since 2014. He served with the Azov Brigade from 2014 to 2016 following Russia&#8217;s annexation of Crimea. After Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion in February 2022, he rejoined volunteer defense forces and sustained serious injuries during combat operations in the Irpin and Bucha regions.<\/p>\n<p>Russian authorities have placed Kaplunov on their terrorist and extremist registry.<\/p>\n<h2>Intelligence Chief Dismissed<\/h2>\n<p>In the aftermath of the incident, Zelensky dismissed <strong>Oleh Khramov<\/strong>, an SBU official who had led Ukraine&#8217;s Department for the Protection of State Secrets since March 2023. Whether his removal is connected to the shootout remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>With information from <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a shootout between rival intelligence agencies in Kyiv that left three officers wounded during what both sides claimed was an operation against Russian forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":17209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[12903,12904,220,12871,211,229],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-17210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-defence-intelligence-unit","tag-intelligence-agency-clash","tag-kyiv","tag-sbu","tag-ukraine","tag-volodymyr-zelensky","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17213,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17210\/revisions\/17213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17210"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=17210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}