Deputy Commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) Stepan Kaplunov stated that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained and interrogated him on suspicion of cooperating with the Russian FSB.
As Kaplunov recounted in an interview with NV, on August 23 he was attacked by unidentified individuals who presented themselves as police officers. Afterwards, he was taken to a secret facility, where he was kept in a cell on chains and subjected to psychological pressure.
Kaplunov claims that under this pressure, he was forced to agree with the version regarding his connections with Russian special services and to redirect suspicions toward his own commander, Dmytro Ivanov.
Nine days after his disappearance, Kaplunov was brought back to the site of his detention for a search of his apartment, during which no prohibited items were found.
"However, when I, the SBU officers, and the investigator arrived at the location, security was already inside the apartment. That is, our unit was providing security for the residence to ensure that under no circumstances would any incidents occur during the search—for instance, to prevent anything from being brought in or planted, so that everything went as cleanly as possible," Kaplunov recounted.
While in the apartment during the investigative actions, Kaplunov observed through the window a shooting that took place on September 2 in the Bereznyaky residential area in Kyiv between SBU officers and GUR servicemen. After the incident concluded, a GUR special forces unit evacuated him from the scene. Kaplunov expressed conviction that his abduction was an attempt to discredit the intelligence special unit and the commander with the callsign "Timur" due to longstanding interagency rivalry.
As reported, on September 1, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) received an application from attorneys of Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine serviceman Stepan Kaplunov regarding the soldier’s alleged disappearance; investigators are examining it for legal classification.
Earlier, information appeared on social media that Deputy Commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) Stepan Kaplunov was abducted in the courtyard of his own home by unknown individuals. Subsequently, a video was published on social media in which the individuals who allegedly abducted the soldier introduced themselves as employees of the National Police of Ukraine.
Later, the SBU reported the detention of servicemen from one of the units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine during a special operation, which thwarted an FSB terror attack against a leader of the Russian opposition political national movement who had arrived in Ukraine on the occasion of Independence Day. According to their data, during the suppression of armed resistance, law enforcement officers used weapons, resulting in injuries.
In connection with the incident, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Prosecutor General’s Office and the SBI would conduct an investigation.
He stated in his evening address on Wednesday that they would clarify all the details, with all testimony and statements from the participants of the event to be checked, as well as the entire situation step by step.
The president also dismissed Head of the SBU Department for the Protection of State Secrets and Licensing Oleh Khramov.
