Early this morning a firefight broke out between two Ukrainian security services Kievofficials have revealed.
The shooting took place during an investigation into an alleged Russian terrorist plot against a Russian opposition figure living in the Ukrainian capital.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said this afternoon that a “group of individuals carried out an attack” on their officers, “tried to hinder the investigation and blocked the passage of law enforcement officers with their cars.”
In response, SBU officers fought back with guns, the agency said, adding that some of their attackers were wounded.
But after their detention, the SBU realized that their attackers belonged to “one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn later revealed that the unit was part of it The Ukrainian army intelligence (HUR).
Images from Kiev shared on social media showed several masked and armed men facing off against each other in the middle of the night.
In a clip from a nearby tower block, several rapid shots could be heard in the urban area.
The shooting took place during an investigation into an alleged Russian terrorist plot against a Russian opposition figure living in the Ukrainian capital
A photo taken after the incident showed at least two men on the ground as paramedics attended to them
Armed men were seen charging forward under a street lamp, although it is not clear whether they belonged to the SBU or HUR.
The area was cordoned off when investigators arrived at the scene of the confrontation, the footage shows.
A photo taken after the incident showed at least two men on the ground as paramedics attended to them.
A source told the Kyiv Independent that the target of the alleged Russian plot was Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) – a unit fighting alongside Ukraine against Putin’s forces.
The RVC said in a Telegram post on Monday that Kaplunov had been “kidnapped by unknown persons in the courtyard of his own house” a few days earlier.
Mr Lytvyn, the presidential adviser, said President Volodymyr Zelensky had “lashed out” at the heads of both agencies and ordered them to tell the public what had happened.
Meanwhile, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Zelensky’s presidential office, called for a “thorough and impartial investigation” into the incident.
Incidents between HUR and SBU are rare, but have occurred in the past.
In a clip from a nearby tower block, several rapid shots could be heard in the urban area
The area was cordoned off after the shooting
The Kiev Independent reported that in March 2022, a month after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the body of banker Denys Kirejev was thrown from a van in central Kiev with a shot to the head.
He had worked for the HUR and was involved in peace talks between Kiev and Moscow in 2022. But he was accused of being a double agent working for Russia.
A year later, Budanov – then head of HUR – denied that the banker worked for Russia and publicly accused the SBU of killing him.
He said: ‘I share the opinion and believe the facts that Mr. Kirejev was killed in the SBU car when they carried out an operation against this person.’
Zelensky’s presidential office later admitted that Kireyev’s death was “connected with the poor coordination of the Ukrainian special services at the beginning of the war.”
The firefight comes as Russian drones swept into central Kiev this morning, wounding nine people and damaging residential and university buildings in the seventh day of nearly 24-hour attacks that have upended daily life in the city.
Moscow’s new air campaign against the Ukrainian capital and surrounding region has killed dozens of civilians and disrupted logistics as Kiev struggles to down the jet-powered drones that have swept the area in waves.
Wednesday’s attack on a downtown university occurred while students were in class, forcing about 160 people to seek shelter, Zelensky said.
Investigators arrived at the scene of the confrontation to investigate what had happened
After the early morning shooting, armed men were seen roaming the urban area
The increasing attacks come as Ukraine braces for a new season of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure amid a critical shortage of US-designed missile interceptors needed to shoot down Moscow’s ballistic missiles.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia hit power stations in the southern Odesa region with missiles and drones, authorities said, knocking out power to more than 350,000 homes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said late on Tuesday that he had ordered his troops to prepare a new campaign of “massive” attacks.
“Unfortunately, there has been far too little response from the world and its most influential leaders to this latest Russian escalation of strikes,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Two people were also killed and eight injured in Russian attacks on the southeastern city of Dnipro, the regional governor said, where food warehouses and education buildings were damaged.
Loud explosions thundered through central Kiev on Wednesday morning as air defenses targeted incoming drones.
Although launched in small numbers, the drones have prompted frequent airstrike warnings that have thrown public transportation into disarray and forced lawmakers underground.
Parts of the Soviet-era metro system are suspended during warnings, forcing residents like 27-year-old Maksym to walk, search for taxis or rely on electric scooters to get to work.
A fire in warehouses after a Russian airstrike in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Workers look at a drone crater as vehicles burn in front of warehouses, after a Russian airstrike in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 2, 2026
“We have to find a solution,” he told Reuters amid the cacophony of morning traffic. ‘The sooner the better.’
The warnings interrupted parliament twice on Wednesday, prompting lawmakers to test a new digital voting system from beneath the legislature, according to opposition deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak, who posted images from the platform.
Earlier this week, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said his city’s defense council had called on the government to relax wartime curfews and other traffic restrictions during warnings.
