Kaplunov says kidnapping aimed to discredit HUR's Timur unit

Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), stated in an interview that his detention, which he calls a kidnapping, was likely aimed at discrediting the Timur special forces unit of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), where he serves. Kaplunov claims SBU officers detained him on August 23 and held him for nine days at two locations, interrogating him without force before taking him to a search of his apartment on September 2. He said he was accused of communicating with the FSB and linking his commander to that contact, suggesting historical rivalry between the SBU and HUR as a possible motive. The incident follows a September 2 shooting in Kyiv during the apartment search, which the SBU says was a response to an armed attack on its team investigating an FSB-ordered assassination plot. Kaplunov is now free, and Ukrainian officials, including President Zelenskyy, have called for a thorough investigation into the inter-agency conflict.