The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv determined the preventive measure for Serhiy Ivanov, a military officer of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, who is suspected of involvement in the shooting on Yurii Shumsky Street in the Bereznyaky residential area. The hearing on the motion to detain him was held in closed session, and the suspect was brought into the courtroom from a detention facility. According to RBC‑Ukraine's correspondent, after the deliberation room, the judge announced that a personal bail (personal surety) had been selected, and the suspect would be released from custody immediately.
Course of the hearing and the judge's decision
The defence at the hearing asked the court not to apply a preventive measure of detention to Ivanov. Coming out of the deliberation room, the judge announced the selection of personal bail as a measure not involving deprivation of liberty. In footage from the court detention facility, the suspect appears behind a distinctive red door with a glass window; a fresh wound is visible on his forehead, which correspondents link to the circumstances of the detention and the shootout. The release from custody, per the court's decision, must take place immediately after the surety is processed.
Charge: article on an attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer
The day before, the investigation notified Ivanov of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 348 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — an attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer. It was this qualification that formed the basis of the motion to select a preventive measure. The suspect's surety, according to the court's decision, will be Zaur Malakhshenidze — the commander of the military unit to which Ivanov formally belongs. Thus, responsibility for the accused's appearance and conduct during the investigation is effectively placed on his direct commander.
SBU version: the detention of Kaplunov and a conflict with shooting
In the morning of September 2, videos of the aftermath of the shooting in Bereznyaky at a house on Shumsky Street spread across social media: police blocked traffic in the area, and law enforcement agencies were working on site. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the incident is linked to the prior detention of Stepan Kaplunov — deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps. The SBU claims that he allegedly had contacts with the FSB and was preparing an assassination attempt on one of the leaders of the Russian opposition, and that it was precisely during the urgent investigative actions on this suspicion that a conflict arose, escalating into shooting.
GUR's position and Kaplunov's statements
Kaplunov himself refutes this version. In his statements and video address, he said that he had been held for several days at a secret facility and subjected to interrogations, and that he was forced to agree to the version about ties with the FSB due to physical and psychological pressure. GUR, in turn, warned of an allegedly planned information campaign against military intelligence and its combat units, which, according to the agency, plans to involve media and "dubious" Telegram channels, and called on citizens to rely only on official sources.
President's reaction
After the high‑profile incident, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of the deputies of the heads of the SBU and GUR and emphasized that both structures must answer for the situation that had developed. This statement records that the incident on Shumsky Street is perceived at the highest level as a systemic failure in the interaction of the security services, rather than as an isolated episode.
Contradictory data
The versions of the sides regarding the causes of the shooting differ substantially. The SBU insists that the shooting was the result of lawful urgent investigative actions during the detention of Kaplunov, who is suspected of ties with the FSB and preparing an assassination attempt. Kaplunov and GUR, conversely, claim that the detention was accompanied by pressure, and that an information campaign is being run against military intelligence; meanwhile, the very fact of preparing an assassination attempt and the nature of Kaplunov's contacts, as presented by the SBU, have not been confirmed by independent evidence in open sources. Thus, until the investigation is complete, it remains unclear who exactly opened fire and at whose initiative the conflict began, and the selection of a bail measure for Ivanov is merely a procedural step that does not establish his guilt.
The outcome of the first court hearing was the release of Ivanov on personal bail with his commander as surety. The final qualification of the actions of all participants in the incident — both SBU and GUR officers — will depend on the results of the ongoing investigation and on whether the investigation can reconcile the divergent versions of the two agencies.
