Allied Intelligence — 2026-09-05

Violent Shootout Between Ukraine SBU and HUR Officers in Kyiv Exposes Intelligence Agency Standoff

BLUFZelensky is unlikely to remove either agency head by early November, opting instead for symbolic accountability that leaves the structural SBU-HUR rivalry unresolved and prone to recurrence.

A gunfight between SBU and HUR officers broke out on September 1-2 in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district after the SBU detained Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the HUR-linked Russian Volunteer Corps 12. The SBU said the operation targeted an FSB-directed plot against a visiting Russian opposition figure, while the HUR special unit "Timur" and Kaplunov's lawyer, Taras Borovskyi, characterized the detention as an unlawful abduction; three intelligence officers were wounded, two seriously 13. Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal probe and, per Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, has notified one SBU officer and one HUR serviceman of suspicion under weapons-related statutes 2. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the incident "absolutely disgraceful," ordered internal investigations at both agencies, and dismissed SBU state-secrets protection chief Oleg Khramov, while Budanov, now Zelensky's chief of staff, called for a "thorough and impartial investigation" 1.

Analysis
Zelensky's dismissal of Khramov and orders for internal investigations function as a substitute for structural accountability rather than a resolution of the underlying SBU-HUR rivalry, leaving Poklad and Ivashchenko in place atop chains of command that have already produced one armed confrontation. Zelensky is unlikely to remove the head of either agency by November 5, 2026, since doing so mid-war risks destabilizing operational continuity and would validate accusations against his own chief of staff's former service. We have low confidence in this judgment, reflecting the absence of any public signal from the Presidential Office on personnel intentions beyond the Khramov dismissal. Parallel investigations by the SBU, HUR, and DBR give both agencies room to shape the narrative without forcing a leadership change.
4 sources
  1. Ukrainian intel agencies in Kyiv firefight: What happened and why? - Al Jazeera
  2. Shootout between SBU and HUR: Two Military Personnel Charged - Ukrainska Pravda
  3. Explainer: What's behind the standoff between Ukraine's two intelligence agencies? - Kyiv Independent
  4. Kyiv Shootout Between SBU and HUR – What We Know - Kyiv Post

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