Fallout from 'disgraceful' HUR, SBU shootout deepens with more FSB accusations, denials

Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov has denied allegations of contacts with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and involvement in planned assassinations, saying in a post on social media on Sept. 3 that he admitted to the allegations only after being held for nine days under psychological pressure and threats.

Without naming Kaplunov directly, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) made the allegations against a "specified person" earlier on Sept. 3 and said it had uncovered their contacts with Russian intelligence while working to prevent an FSB-organized assassination planned for Ukraine's Independence Day.

The competing accounts emerged a day after a confrontation between SBU officers and members of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) in Kyiv ended in a shootout with three HUR service members injured.

According to the SBU, the "specified person" was tasked with preparing an assassination attempt against a Russian opposition figure expected to visit Ukraine, as well as killing other Ukrainian service members in exchange for money.

The SBU said they had acknowledged contacts with the FSB and provided information that allowed investigators to identify others involved in the alleged plot. It also said investigators documented correspondence with an FSB representative on his phone.

Kaplunov, however, told Radio NV that he had been forcibly detained near his home on Aug. 23 by men who identified themselves as police officers. He said he was then handcuffed, blindfolded with tape, and taken to what he described as a "secret prison."

Kaplunov said he was intensively questioned during the first two days and threatened.

"They were saying that one could disappear forever. There was talk about 'digging a hole.' We all understand what that means," Kaplunov said.

Kaplunov said that under those conditions he agreed with the investigators' version that he had been in contact with the FSB and had later passed that contact to his direct commander, Dmytro Ivanov.

"Although in reality nothing like that happened," he said. "I went along with it because of the position I was in and under psychological pressure."

Kaplunov said he was held at two different locations and released after nine days. He was then returned to his home, without being told that investigators were about to search his apartment, he said.

In a separate video published on Telegram, Kaplunov accused SBU officers of "bandit-style" abduction on Aug. 23 and alleged that acting head of the SBU Oleksandr Poklad personally questioned him during the first three days of his detention.

Kaplunov claimed that through physical and psychological pressure, SBU officers sought to implicate Dmytro Ivanov, deputy commander of HUR's "Timur" special unit, as well as President's Office Head Kyrylo Budanov, in alleged cooperation with the FSB.

He also alleged that, while he was absent, SBU officers attempted to enter his home carrying large sports bags and plant unidentified items there. Kaplunov said his side had appealed to the State Bureau of Investigation to examine the allegations.

His lawyer, Taras Borovskyi, alleged that a video in which Kaplunov admitted contacts with Russian intelligence had been recorded while he was in detention "under pressure, torture and threats of murder."

The SBU denied wrongdoing in its account of the underlying investigation and said Kaplunov had not been placed under a preventive measure because he had acknowledged the contacts and cooperated with investigators.

The agency nevertheless described the subsequent confrontation with HUR as an "absolutely unacceptable conflict situation."

"This definitely should not have happened," the SBU said, adding that the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) is investigating the shooting and that the agency is cooperating with the probe.

RVC commander Denis Kapustin, known by the call sign White Rex, also rejected the SBU's allegations against Kaplunov in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda published on Sept. 3.

Kapustin told Ukrainska Pravda that the first confrontation occurred late on Sept. 1, when SBU officers brought Kaplunov to his apartment to conduct a search and encountered his fellow service members there.

According to Kapustin, the dispute was initially resolved but resumed the following morning, when SBU officers opened fire. Three HUR service members were wounded, while several HUR representatives were detained, he said.

Kaplunov has not been formally charged and remains free, according to his lawyer and the RVC.

The RVC operates under HUR, Ukraine's military intelligence agency.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the confrontation between the two agencies "an absolutely disgraceful situation" and ordered a full investigation, saying those responsible should face accountability and possible personnel decisions.

Zelensky subsequently dismissed Oleh Khramov, head of the SBU's department for the protection of state secrets.

The Kyiv Independent reached out to the SBU for comment on Kaplunov’s allegations but had not received a response at the time of publication.