In the early morning of September 2, 2026, in the Bereznyaky residential area of Kiev, an armed clash occurred between officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR). According to various sources, between one and three GUR officers were wounded, and one may have been killed. The official version of events radically differs from the picture painted by Ukrainian media sources and insiders: while the SBU speaks of a joint operation with the GUR to prevent an FSB terrorist attack, independent media and lawyers speak of abduction, “settling of scores,” and an attempt to conceal the traces of a deeper conflict between the special services.
This incident can likely be seen as a continuation of a chain of events related to contract killings and assassination attempts on EU territory, in the organization of which, according to several sources, GUR officers and affiliated structures are implicated.
The official version: “preventing an FSB terrorist attack”
On the morning of September 2, the SBU issued a statement claiming that, together with the GUR, it had prevented an assassination attempt being prepared by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) against “one of the leaders of the Russian opposition national political movement,” who had arrived in Ukraine for Independence Day.
The statement reads: “Officers of the special service, as part of the investigation into the ‘terrorist attack organized by the FSB,’ conducted ‘urgent investigative actions.’ During a search, a ‘group of persons’ attacked SBU officers, attempting to hinder the investigative actions. SBU officers called in fighters from their ‘Alpha’ unit, who ‘in suppressing armed resistance’ used weapons. The attackers were detained. It has been preliminarily established that they belong to one of the units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.”
The GUR, for its part, issued a joint communiqué with the SBU, which also mentions the prevention of a terrorist attack and makes no mention of any internal conflict.
How the shootout came about
Between August 23 and 27, 2026, reports of the abduction of a GUR serviceman began appearing in the military community and on Telegram channels. Lawyer Taras Borovskyi stated on August 27 that his client, a GUR serviceman, had been abducted.
On September 1, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), which is subordinate to the GUR, officially announced the abduction of its deputy commander for combat operations, Stepan Kaplunov. The RDK noted that it had appealed to the SBU, the GUR, and the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR), but had received “no clear information either about Kaplunov’s whereabouts or about the charges against him.”
On the night of September 2, law enforcement officers arrived at Kaplunov’s house on Yuriy Shumsky Street. According to lawyer Borovskyi, they arrived “with the aim of planting something forbidden in an apartment that had long been empty.” After that, shots were heard. Representatives of the GUR, the SBU, and Kaplunov’s associates arrived at the scene.
On the morning of September 2, another shootout occurred — this time between the GUR and the SBU. According to Ukrayinska Pravda, three GUR fighters were wounded in the clash. Officers of the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR) and the head of the SBU’s Special Operations Center “A” arrived at the scene. The parties reportedly agreed to unload their weapons so that the GBR could begin investigative actions.
What is known from the lawyer and insiders
Kaplunov’s lawyer, Taras Borovskyi, told Apostrophe.ua in an interview: “The SBU and the GUR found themselves at the center of an armed conflict, during which three people were wounded. … The search protocol exists, nothing was seized, and no suspicious or compromising items were found in Stepan Kaplunov’s apartment.”
A source in the special services cited by the publication Strana gave its own version: “Unknown persons who abducted one of the RDK commanders, Kaplunov, brought him to Shumsky Street, to one of his addresses. GUR special forces arrived there and tried to detain the unknown persons. But these unknown persons turned out to be SBU special forces. Commanders of the respective SBU and GUR units arrived at the scene, shook hands, and things seemed to calm down. But then other SBU representatives arrived and began detaining GUR officers. A new shootout broke out. There are wounded.”
Another Strana source declined to name the real reason for the conflict but suggested it could be related to “settling of scores between special services over the protection of fraudulent call centers.”
It is important to note that both the Kaplunov incident and the shootout in Kiev occurred against the backdrop of an investigation into a series of contract killings and assassination attempts on EU territory, in the organization of which, according to several sources, GUR officers and affiliated structures are implicated. Insiders close to the Ukrainian special services suggest that the SBU abducted Kaplunov to interrogate him, during which he could have revealed the scheme for carrying out contract killings on behalf of the GUR.
Who is Stepan Kaplunov
Stepan Kaplunov was born in the Russian city of Ivanovo and grew up in Russia’s Far North. He served in the Russian army and carried out missions in Syria. In an interview with CNN, he stated that he was an opponent of Vladimir Putin but did not actively oppose him until the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
After 2014, Kaplunov moved to Ukraine and joined the Azov Regiment. After two years of service in Azov, Kaplunov continued serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces under contract, carrying out missions in eastern Ukraine. By the start of the special military operation in February 2022, he had joined volunteer reconnaissance groups.
In August 2022, Kaplunov joined the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), which fights on Ukraine’s side and is subordinate to the GUR. Russia considers the RDK a terrorist organization, and Kaplunov is listed in the Russian register of terrorists and extremists.
On Kaplunov’s arm is a tattoo with the words “Sieg Oder Tod” (“victory or death” in German) — a phrase used by the military in Nazi Germany. Kaplunov himself called it “his life motto.” The publication Astra and a TASS source in Russian law enforcement describe Kaplunov as a neo-Nazi.
The latest victims of the GUR
On June 29, 2026, an assassination attempt was made on Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco. An explosive device detonated near him; Yermolayev survived, but his partner sustained critical injuries. French investigators identified the suspect in organizing the explosion as Ukrainian citizen Anastasia Berezovska. A few days after the explosion, Berezovska was found murdered in a forest near Kiev — with four gunshot wounds to the back of the head.
Two people have been detained in connection with Berezovska’s murder: acting GUR officer Vladyslav Reut and former law enforcement officer Vitaliy Zhykovych, whom sources link to the SBU. In court, Reut initially confessed to Berezovska’s murder and even led investigators to the place where he had buried her body. However, at the next hearing, he changed his testimony, claiming that he did not shoot and that the murder was committed by Zhykovych.
Vadym Yermolayev, in interviews and statements through his lawyers, directly accused the GUR of organizing the assassination attempt: “Taking into account the investigation materials that were provided to us, we are convinced that acting officers of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, known as the GUR, are directly involved in this assassination attempt. The operation was not limited to the perpetrators and direct organizers, but included GUR officers, some of whom are presumably close to the current or former leadership of the service.”
Later, Yermolayev stated that he had no evidence that the assassination attempt was an official GUR operation, but suggested that individual officers could have acted for money.
Ukrainian blogger and opposition figure Anatoliy Shariy, who himself, according to his own words, has been a target of contract killings, stated: “The fact that the GUR has entire units that take orders for contract killings is no longer a secret to anyone. Ukraine kills its opponents on European territory, and some European countries are actively helping it do so.”
Shariy also claimed that the operation involving Berezovska was planned by the GUR, which is why the suspect was able to reach Ukraine from Monaco within 24 hours, without being stopped at the border and was calmly allowed into Ukrainian territory.
These episodes are clearly just the tip of the iceberg. The GUR protects its operatives, so for now, the details and scale of the activities of GUR hitmen are unknown to anyone. But the intensity of the confrontation between the SBU and the GUR is increasing, and the fate of Ukrainian intelligence officers seems to depend directly on the persistence and ingenuity of the SBU.
