Language Ombudsman Elena Ivanovskaya appealed to the Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense with a demand to explain why during the shootout on September 2 between the SBU and GUR officers, the fighters communicated in Russian.
“In order to clarify the circumstances and decide on appropriate measures, I contacted the Main Intelligence Directorate and the SBU with a request to explain the actions of their employees who, during the incident that occurred on Shumsky Street in Kyiv, used a non-state language while performing official duties, and also to report who they are,” the official said.
Ivanovskaya, whose statement was quoted by Ukrainian News, added that based on the information received and study of materials, she will decide on taking the measures required by law.
The publication notes that the defender of the Ukrainian language did not have any complaints about the recording published by NABU, made during an investigation into corruption in the highest echelons of power. On it, the interlocutors communicate in Russian, using obscene expressions.
As previously reported on Newsru.co.il, on the morning of September 2, the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate announced the prevention of a terrorist attack, which, according to them, the Russian FSB was preparing against one of the leaders of the Russian opposition movement, who came to Ukraine in connection with Independence Day. The name of the intended target was not officially released.
During the night and morning of September 2, the conflict turned into an armed confrontation. SBU officers conducted a search in a house on Shumsky Street in the Dneprovsky district of Kyiv as part of an investigation into a case of an alleged FSB terrorist attack. According to the SBU, a group of armed people tried to obstruct the investigative actions, blocked the exit with cars and attacked the operatives.
The SBU Alpha special forces were called to the scene and used weapons. Several resistance members were detained. The SBU stated that they are servicemen of one of the units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Three people were injured during the collision.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine began a pre-trial investigation into the threat and encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer. Investigators establish the role of each participant and decide on the final legal qualification of what happened. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the circumstances of the conflict separately.
The head of the office of the President of Ukraine and the former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, said that the investigation must be “thorough and impartial.” At the same time, he emphasized that no one has the right to “kidnap military personnel with impunity, open fire on the streets of our cities, or give and carry out criminal orders.”
On the evening of September 2, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reacted sharply. He called the incident “absolutely shameful” and said that “it is possible to shoot here in Ukraine only at the occupiers to protect our state.” The President said that he discussed the incident with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko and demanded a step-by-step verification of the evidence and statements of all participants.
According to Zelensky, the results of the investigation should result in responsibility, including personnel decisions, and the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate should conduct their own internal investigations. On the morning of September 3, Zelensky signed a decree dismissing the head of the department for the protection of state secrets and licensing of the SBU, Oleg Khramov.