Photo: RBC
Taras Borovsky, lawyer for Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), said his client was abducted on August 23 and that a shooting later occurred in Kyiv during investigative actions, leaving several Ukrainian military intelligence officers injured.
Search at Kaplunov’s apartment and shooting
According to Borovsky, Kaplunov was allegedly forced into a vehicle by SBU officers on August 23 and taken to an unknown location. He said Kaplunov’s lawyer and fellow RVC members did not know where he was until the night of September 1.
Borovsky said SBU officers brought Kaplunov back to the apartment where he lived to conduct an urgent search. According to the lawyer, HUR officers were present at the scene and raised the alarm, after which Kaplunov’s fellow fighters began arriving.
Borovsky said the first shots were fired at around 11 p.m. on September 1. He claimed that a verbal confrontation followed between HUR and SBU personnel, but that the situation was later resolved through an agreement under which Kaplunov and several detained RVC members would be released.
The lawyer said he remained at the scene throughout the night and had no complaints about the work of the SBU investigators.
Shooting in the morning
Borovsky said that at around 8:30 a.m., as the final inspection report was being prepared, SBU officers again began detaining Kaplunov’s fellow fighters.
He alleged that the group attempted to prevent the detentions and that SBU personnel opened fire.
According to Borovsky, two HUR officers were seriously wounded and another suffered a minor injury. The injured were taken to hospital.
RVC commander Denis Kapustin also appeared before journalists and said he had been present during the SBU search of Kaplunov’s apartment. He claimed that although a search report had been drawn up, investigators had found no compromising items. Kapustin said he did not know what the SBU was looking for and did not disclose Kaplunov’s current location.
Dispute over SBU’s version of events
Borovsky disputed the SBU’s official account that the security service and HUR had prevented a terrorist attack allegedly being prepared by Russia’s FSB against Kaplunov.
The lawyer suggested that the announced counterterrorism operation could have been used to conceal what he described as Kaplunov’s detention outside the normal legal procedure. He did not provide evidence to substantiate his allegation that investigators may have attempted to fabricate evidence.
Borovsky acknowledged that Kaplunov, a Russian citizen serving in Ukrainian forces since 2024, could legitimately attract increased attention from Ukrainian security services. However, he stressed that any investigative measures must be carried out lawfully if there are grounds for suspicion.
Asked where Kaplunov was, Borovsky said: “I don’t know, but he is already free.”
Official investigation
The shooting occurred in Kyiv’s Berezniaky district near 10 Yurii Shumskyi Street.
The SBU later said that during a search at one of the addresses, armed individuals allegedly attacked its personnel and blocked law-enforcement vehicles, prompting the deployment of the Alpha special unit. The agency said there were injuries and that the suspects had been detained.
The Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation into alleged threats and an attempt on the life of a law-enforcement officer.
Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanov said the State Bureau of Investigation and Prosecutor General’s Office were also handling the case and called for a thorough and impartial investigation.
Earlier, the SBU and HUR said they had prevented an alleged FSB plot against a Russian opposition figure in Ukraine. Sources identified the intended target as Kaplunov, although the agencies did not officially name him. The HUR later deleted its original statement about the foiled attack.
