MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. An officer of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate was killed, and two others were injured in a gunfight that took place overnight and ran into this morning in Kiev, the Insider news outlet reported.

TASS has compiled the key information on the incident.

Circumstances of shootout

- Gunfire was heard in the Kiev neighborhood of Bereznyaki, Ukraine’s Insider news outlet said.

- The Strana news outlet claimed that officers from Ukraine's Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) were involved.

- According to Strana, "the shooting in Bereznyaki began overnight and continued into the morning.

- For its part, the SBU announced in the morning that it was conducting certain operational activities jointly with the GUR.

- However, local media later reported a new shootout.

- Kiev police blocked traffic in the neighborhood where gunfire was heard during the night and in the morning, the mayor’s office stated.

- According to Insider, officers from Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations and the head of the SBU’s Alpha special unit arrived at the scene and allegedly "agreed to unload their weapons and begin an investigation."

Casualties

- A Main Intelligence Directorate officer was killed, and two others were injured in shootouts that took place overnight and this morning in Kiev’s Bereznyaki neighborhood, the Insider news outlet noted.

SBU’s account

- The SBU has published its account of the events in Bereznyaki.

- According to the security service’s Telegram channel, its officers were attacked by a "group of servicemen" during an investigation, prompting the deployment of the SBU's Alpha special forces unit for protection.

- The SBU said that the attackers blocked the investigative team’s path with their vehicles.

- Special forces from the SBU’s Alpha special forces unit opened fire on the defiant servicemen.

- Reports say the servicemen were detained.

- During the initial investigation, the SBU stated that the detainees belonged to one of the Ukrainian Defense Forces units.

- According to the agency, some of the detainees were injured.

Rivalry among security services

- This is not the first time that reports have surfaced about strained relations among Ukrainian security services.

- In March 2022, Denis Kireyev, a member of Ukraine’s negotiating delegation, was killed while being arrested.

- Kirill Budanov, who was head of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the time (he is listed as a terrorist and extremist by Russia), called Kireyev "one of his staff members" and claimed that he was killed in an SBU vehicle.

- In turn, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office at the time, stated that Kireyev’s killing was caused by uncoordinated actions by law enforcement agencies.