Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebukes spy agencies after Kyiv shootout

{"text":[[{"start":7.74,"text":"Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reprimanded two rival Ukrainian security services and demanded an investigation after the agencies were involved in a shootout on the streets of Kyiv."}],[{"start":19.06,"text":"In his evening address, Ukraine’s president said an “absolutely disgraceful incident” had taken place involving units of Ukraine’s largest espionage agency, the SBU, and the military intelligence service, HUR."}],[{"start":32.24,"text":"“Here in Ukraine, the only people anyone should be shooting at are the Russian occupiers, in defence of Ukraine. No other exchange of gunfire will ever be treated by our state as something anyone is permitted to engage in,” he said."}],[{"start":46.56,"text":"Zelenskyy said prosecutors would investigate the incident. The violence has raised questions about Kyiv’s ability to keep in check agencies whose influence and resources have greatly increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022."}],[{"start":60.96,"text":"“There must be accountability, including personnel decisions by the heads of the intelligence and security services concerning those involved in what happened, and both services must conduct internal investigations,” Zelenskyy said."}],[{"start":74.88,"text":"After violence erupted overnight and on Wednesday morning in the sleepy Berezniaky district, the SBU had issued contradictory statements — first saying it had worked with the HUR to foil a Russian “terrorist attack”, then later that it had been involved in a stand-off with a “group of individuals” trying to block SBU officers from carrying out a search."}],[{"start":94.2,"text":"Agents from the SBU’s elite “Alpha” unit opened fire and arrested three people who “belong to one of the units of Ukraine’s defence forces”, the intelligence agency said in its later statement. HUR did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":108.995,"text":"The SBU said several people had been injured “among those who resisted”."}],[{"start":112.74,"text":"The stand-off took place as Kyiv endured its sixth day of Russian drone strikes in a row, an unprecedented duration that Ukrainian officials said represented a change of tactics from Moscow and an attempt to “paralyse” economic activity."}],[{"start":125.3,"text":"The incident appears linked with previous reports about the arrest of a commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a unit of Russian nationalists fighting for Ukraine and attached to HUR. The unit is headed by Russian far-right extremist Denis Nikitin."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":140.4,"text":"RVC chief of staff Aleksandr Fortuna said on Tuesday the unit’s deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov had been “abducted” days earlier “without any information . . . about the charges brought against him”."}],[{"start":153.26,"text":"Kaplunov’s lawyer Taras Brovsky told Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo that the deputy commander had been arrested by the SBU in late August and brought back to his flat on Wednesday for a search — at which point HUR officers tried to prevent the SBU from entering the flat."}],[{"start":172.116,"text":"The SBU has not confirmed Kaplunov’s arrest or commented on any accusations against him."}],[{"start":177.3,"text":"The Kyiv street where the confrontation took place had been cordoned off on Wednesday morning, with footage showing heavily armed men turning residents around when they tried to enter."}],[{"start":187.22,"text":"Both the SBU and HUR have been involved in many aspects of the war, from frontline fighting to long-range drone strikes and sabotage operations."}],[{"start":196.74,"text":"The conflict transformed the image of the SBU, a sprawling agency with a staff of more than 40,000, from that of a corrupt organisation in need of reform to one of Ukraine’s most effective fighting forces."}],[{"start":213.31,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788396347_2275.mp3"}