Shooting Between SSU and DIU in Kyiv: Zelenskyy Orders Investigations, Personnel Changes After ‘Shameful’ Incident

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned a shooting between units of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) that took place in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi District on 2 September, calling it an “absolutely shameful situation” and vowing that “people in Ukraine can only shoot at Russian occupiers.”

In his evening address on 2 September, Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko and that the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) would “establish all the details” of the incident. He added that personnel changes would be made by the heads of both agencies, and that internal investigations would be conducted within each service. Source

The shooting, which reportedly involved gunfire exchanged between separate SSU and DIU units, has not been officially detailed by either agency. However, the incident comes amid a broader context of internal tensions. On 1 September, the Russian Volunteer Corps (a military and political organisation of Russian nationals fighting for Ukraine) claimed that its deputy commander for combat operations, Stepan Kaplunov, had been abducted by unknown individuals in the courtyard of his building. Social media channels on the night of 1–2 September linked the abduction to a shootout allegedly involving DIU and SSU in the Dniprovskyi District. Source

Separately, on the same day as his address, Zelenskyy dismissed the head of the SSU department responsible for state secrets protection. The decree, published on the president’s website, did not give a reason. It is not yet confirmed whether this dismissal is directly related to the shooting incident. Source

The SBI and the SSU’s Alpha special operations centre were reported to be at the scene, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Kyiv police have also been on alert: a separate report noted that police were hunting an armed suspect after the shooting, although no further details have been released. Source

Why this matters

For a country at war, an exchange of gunfire between two of its most critical security agencies is deeply destabilising. The SSU is responsible for counterintelligence and internal security; the DIU runs covert operations and intelligence gathering. Any breakdown in coordination – let alone a direct confrontation – risks creating vulnerabilities that Russia can exploit. The fact that the incident is linked, even loosely, to the abduction of a Russian volunteer commander fighting for Ukraine adds another layer of complexity: it suggests possible infighting over how to handle volunteer units or disputes over operational control.

Zelenskyy’s insistence that only Russian occupiers should be shot at is a clear signal to the security services that internal feuds will not be tolerated. The promised personnel changes and investigations are a first step, but the open questions remain: what exactly triggered the shooting? Were there casualties? And will the dismissal of the SSU state secrets chief prove to be a connected move or a coincidence?

As of 3 September, no official statement has been issued by either the SSU or the DIU regarding the incident. The SBI has not yet released findings. The Ukrainian public and international partners will be watching closely for transparency and accountability.