What sparked conflict and shooting between SSU and DIU. Both sides’ accounts

Author: Iryna Romaliiska

What caused the conflict? Who opened fire first? Censor.NET spoke with sources in both security services, the DIU (Defence Intelligence of Ukraine) and the SSU (Security Service of Ukraine), as well as sources in two other Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. We managed to piece together their accounts of how the events unfolded.

BACKGROUND

According to a DIU source, the shooting was preceded by a conflict between the head of the Presidential Office, former DIU chief Kyrylo Budanov, and acting SSU head Oleksandr Poklad. SSU officers abducted Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (a unit subordinate to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine of the Ministry of Defence (DIU of MoD)), to obtain compromising material on the DIU and Budanov from him. During the night, SSU officers brought Kaplunov to the building where he lived on Shumskoho Street in Kyiv. DIU officers also arrived there.

According to an SSU source, the service had received information that Kaplunov had ties to Russia's FSB and that there was evidence to substantiate this. However, DIU officers tried to take him back.

Ruslan Kahanets, one of the commanders of the DIU's Tymur special unit, wrote on Facebook: "The underlying causes of the conflict run much deeper than what is being reported in the news. The first public conflict between the SSU and the DIU occurred after Alpha officers killed DIU agent Denys Kireiev in 2022. It was then that the famous photo of Budanov and Maliuk together appeared."

SHOOTING: WHO OPENED FIRE FIRST?

Censor.NET has obtained footage of the shooting itself.

It shows the final moments of the conflict's escalation: SSU and DIU officers are walking away, tensions then flare up, and the first shot rings out (The editorial staff cannot determine who fired first). Three more shots are then fired by SSU officers.

According to the DIU source, only SSU officers opened fire, while the DIU officers were not armed at all.

According to the SSU source, it was the intelligence officers who fired the first shot after investigative actions had been conducted in Kaplunov's apartment. Before that, according to the source, an attempt had been made to take Kaplunov back. The source says that SSU officers aimed at their legs.

At present, four sources in different agencies report that three DIU officers were wounded. According to the DIU source, one of them is in serious condition.

DETAINEES

Ruslan Kahanets claims that "the SBI detained three special forces officers from the Fifth Directorate of the SSU Counterintelligence Department. One of them is Oleksandr Bova. He fired at DIU officers during the night today, and he may have been the one who killed Denys Kireiev in 2022."

A Censor.NET source in the DIU confirms that the SBI detained three SSU special forces officers and claims that one DIU officer was also detained.

According to a source in another law enforcement agency, no one was detained. The three SSU officers were merely questioned and released. The source insists that no intelligence officers were detained either. The source also adds that no one named Oleksandr Bova was present at the scene.

The standoff continued overnight and throughout the day today. The area in Kyiv was cordoned off by police. Taras Borovskyi, the RVC fighter's lawyer, told Censor.NET that his client was at liberty.

Iryna Romaliiska, Censor.NET