Zelenskyy: Security service and defence intelligence deputy heads to be dismissed over standoff between employees

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the deputy heads of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) officers and the servicemen of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) will be dismissed over the incident involving a shootout between employees of the two agencies.

Source: Zelenskyy's address

Quote: "There are already two suspicion notices for participants – those involved in the shooting: a SSU officer and a DIU serviceman. All other circumstances of what happened are also being examined, from the first day of this entire story."

Details: Zelenskyy said he discussed the situation between the SSU and DIU with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

Zelenskyy noted that an assessment of the actions of the heads of both agencies will be provided based on the results of an internal investigation. At the same time, personnel decisions regarding the deputy heads of the SSU and DIU have already been taken.

Quote: "Personnel decisions have already been taken regarding both structures – the deputy heads who should bear responsibility for this situation will be dismissed. This is entirely fair: both structures must be held accountable and both structures acted in a way that absolutely should not happen."

Background:

• On 1 September, the Russian Volunteer Corps said that its deputy commander for combat operations, Stepan Kaplunov, had been abducted by unknown individuals in the courtyard of a residential building. [The Russian Volunteer Corps is a military and political organisation established in 2022 that consists of Russian volunteers who have been fighting for Ukraine since 2014]
• On the morning of 2 September, reports spread on social media about a shootout said to be between Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district, and that it was somehow connected to Kaplunov's disappearance.
• Meanwhile, the SSU said in the morning that, together with DIU, it had foiled a terrorist attack against a leader of a Russian opposition political national movement who had arrived in Ukraine.
• Later, Kaplunov's lawyer, Taras Borovskyi, said that the serviceman had been released, but his whereabouts were unknown.
• On the morning of 3 September, the SSU released a video in which Kaplunov admitted to having links to Russia's Federal Security Service and said an attempt had been made to recruit him to assassinate Ukrainian military personnel and other individuals. However, his lawyer insists that the confession was made under duress.
• On 3 September, Kaplunov himself also stated that he had been abducted by the SSU officers and described his time in a "secret prison", where he was threatened with "disappearing forever".
• Kaplunov also said that the SSU had attempted, with his help, to discredit Dmytro Ivanov, deputy commander of the Timur Special Unit, and Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President's Office.
• State Bureau of Investigation officers have opened a pre-trial investigation into the circumstances of a confrontation between Security Service of Ukraine officers and servicemen of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

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