Kiev’s spooks open fire in standoff with army – media
Armed hostilities broke out between Ukrainian troops and members of the military intelligence service (HUR) in a conflict over which of them rented out a clinic, Ukrainskaya Pravda has reported.
On Wednesday evening, HUR members stormed into the October sanatorium on the outskirts of Kiev, “knocking down the gates and breaking down the fence,” the outlet wrote, citing law enforcement sources.
The military intelligence forces fired their guns into the air and ground and took ten soldiers captive, causing them “significant injuries,” the newspaper added.
They later reportedly released the soldiers and barricaded themselves inside, refusing to let local law enforcement and military police in.
The HUR claimed that they rented out the sanatorium and that the soldiers were there illegally, according to Ukrainskaya Pravda.
According to the newspaper, however, the soldiers had leased the sanatorium from the owners and were using it in accordance with the local military administration and the orders of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
Neither side lodged a formal complaint with the police before the violence broke out, a law enforcement source was cited as saying.
Russian forces have recorded multiple cases of friendly fire by Ukrainian units in the conflict, due to the low level of coordination between them, TASS reported earlier this year.
