Ukraine security services say they foiled FSB-linked plot targeting Russian opposition figure, shootout follows

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced on September 2 that it and the country's military intelligence agency (HUR) had disrupted a terrorist plot attributed to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) aimed at a senior figure of a Russian opposition movement. The individual, identified by Russian Volunteer Corps sources as Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the group, had arrived in Kyiv for Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations.

The Russian Volunteer Corps said Kaplunov was abducted from the yard of his home several days earlier and that it had alerted Ukrainian security agencies but had received no clear information about his whereabouts or any charges. The corps condemned the incident, calling it unacceptable.

Ukrainian Telegram channels reported that SBU and HUR officers exchanged gunfire in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district, possibly related to Kaplunov's detention. Lawyer Taras Borovsky, representing Kaplunov, posted video from the scene showing law-enforcement officers arriving at the deputy commander's residence, after which armed confrontation broke out.

The SBU later said its officers were conducting “urgent investigative measures” as part of the probe into the alleged FSB-organized terrorist attack. During a search, a group attempted to obstruct the officers, prompting the SBU’s Alpha unit to open fire and detain the assailants, who preliminary investigations linked to a unit of Ukraine's Defense Forces. The agency reported injuries among those who resisted.

A security-services source quoted by a Ukrainian outlet offered a different account, suggesting the clash stemmed from a dispute over protection of fraudulent call-center operations. According to the source, unknown individuals who had taken Kaplunov were initially confronted by HUR special forces, but the confrontation escalated when SBU units arrived, leading to a second shootout and wounded personnel.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of the president’s office and former head of the HUR, said the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office are handling the incident and emphasized that no one may abduct servicemen, open fire in city streets, or execute criminal orders.