A gunfight broke out in Kyiv on Tuesday between special forces units run by Ukraine’s intelligence and security agencies, with at least three officers reported wounded.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a>, called the confrontation \u2014 involving the country’s military intelligence directorate, GUR<\/a>, and the Security Service of Ukraine<\/a>, or SBU \u2014 an “absolutely shameful situation.”<\/p>\n “Here, in Ukraine, it is only possible to shoot at Russian occupiers to protect Ukraine. No other shootout will ever be perceived by our state as something that is permitted for anyone,” he said.<\/p>\n The violent clash in central Kyiv is one of the most dramatic and high-profile confrontations between friendly Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n The SBU said in a statement on Wednesday that the gunfight occurred while it was investigating a possible operation by the Kremlin against a Russian dissident. SBU agents had been collecting and recording evidence as part of “urgent investigative actions,” it said.<\/p>\n “During a search at one of the addresses, a group of individuals carried out an armed attack on the SBU operational-investigative group,” the statement said.<\/p>\n According to the SBU, these individuals blocked its officers and their cars from proceeding, after which the security service called in its “Alpha” special forces unit<\/a> to intervene.<\/p>\n “During the cessation of armed resistance, law enforcement officers used weapons,” the SBU wrote, adding in the statement that the people blocking its investigation were from a Ukrainian unit.<\/p>\n Several members of the opposing group were wounded in the process, it added.<\/p>\n Want more Business Insider in your news feed?<\/p>\n \n Add BI in Google so our reporting is easier to find when you\u2019re searching for what matters.\n <\/p>\n Apartment raid central to shootout<\/p>\n Local media reported that the raid centered on Stepan Kaplunov, the deputy commander of a unit of Russian volunteers<\/a> who fight for Ukraine under GUR’s Timur special forces paramilitary.<\/p>\n Kaplunov’s unit, the Russian Volunteer Corps, said on Tuesday that he had been “abducted by unknown individuals” and was appealing for information on his whereabouts.<\/p>\n