Zelenskyy furious over shootout between Kyiv spy agencies as Russia keeps striking cities
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticised the SBU and GUR after a shootout between the two security services left three people injured, while Russia continued drone and missile strikes on several Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has strongly condemned officers from the SBU security service and GUR military intelligence agency after a shootout in Kyiv reportedly left three officers injured. The clash reportedly began after the SBU detained the leader of an anti-Kremlin Russian unit fighting for Ukraine under GUR's supervision. Zelenskyy called the incident "absolutely shameful," ordered prosecutors and investigators to look into it, and dismissed a senior SBU officer. He stressed that in Ukraine, shooting is only permitted against Russian occupiers.
Strikes continue across cities
Russian drones hit central Kyiv on Wednesday for a seventh consecutive day, with explosions heard again early Thursday morning. Eleven people were wounded in Kyiv on Wednesday, with residential buildings and university facilities damaged. Russia also struck power infrastructure in the southern Odesa region with missiles and drones, cutting electricity to more than 350,000 households. In Dnipro, two people were killed and eight wounded, with food warehouses and educational buildings damaged.
Other developments
Norway has seized the Russian cruise ship Professor Molchanov over unpaid compensation ordered by a 2023 Hague tribunal ruling related to the seizure of Ukrainian assets in Crimea. Ukraine has asked the International Civil Aviation Organization to ban flights over Russian airspace, warning it has become increasingly unsafe due to Ukrainian drones. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it could take Ukraine years to begin domestic production of Patriot air defence interceptors. Zelenskyy announced a revised two-tier air raid alert system and reduced curfew hours. Belgium continues to block an EU plan to use €200bn in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, while Britain's OFSI fined Citibank for compliance failures that allowed sanctioned Russians to access funds.
