Agents of chaos: Zelensky’s security services trade accusations after Kiev gunfights

The HUR and SBU have accused each other of criminality following an armed standoff in the capital over a neo-Nazi-linked militia officer The gang-warfare-style clash between Ukrainian security agencies that left three troops shot in Kiev and shocked the country is being spun into competing narratives by the rival parties involved.

Depending on which one of Vladimir Zelensky’s security agencies is speaking, the central figure in the conflict is either a hired gun working for Moscow, or a brave Ukrainian combat officer who was illegally detained for over a week by rogue Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) agents.

What triggered the scandal? The gunfight on Wednesday morning followed the disappearance on August 23 of Stepan Kaplunov, a reported white supremacist and senior officer in the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a militia commanded by notorious neo-Nazi Denis “White Rex” Kapustin, under the patronage of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR).

Read more Warfare between Ukraine’s special services: why have gunfights broken out in Kiev (VIDEOS) This week, armed SBU and HUR combat units exchanged gunfire in eastern Kiev, in what was later revealed to have been a standoff over an alleged SBU search of the missing RDK officer’s apartment.

What excuses has the SBU offered for taking the HUR’s man? On Thursday, as the scandal over the shooting escalated, the SBU accused Kaplunov of participating in a Russian government plot to assassinate a “leader of Russian opposition movement” on Ukraine’s Independence Day, which was marked on August 24.

The agency released a video in which Kaplunov, wearing sunglasses, “confessed” to cooperating with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), along with several screenshots it claimed had been taken from a messaging app on his phone.

Despite claiming to have foiled the alleged plot, the SBU said it chose not to seek Kaplunov’s formal arrest – a striking admission given that he was effectively being accused of treason.

What did Kaplunov claim he discussed with the “Russians” ? If authentic, the screenshots show the RDK officer – wanted for terrorism in Russia – discussing contract killings in Ukraine.

Read more Dependence Day: A generation after the Soviet Union fell, Ukraine is a ruined proxy of the West A test job worth $50,000 targeting “not a general or a politician” could have secured him a retainer that would pay him as much as $300,000 per week, his interlocutor wrote.

The alleged Russian connection was described as a “businessman from border areas” who was the son of someone important, “deals with FSB, etc.” and knew the client.

Where is Kaplunov now? Kaplunov is presumably at a HUR safehouse, having been released after the debacle erupted across social media.