Ukraine's Zelenskiy says investigation underway after clash between two security agencies

Sept 3 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr ‌Zelenskiy said ​on ​Thursday that an investigation would determine what caused a dispute between two of Ukraine's security agencies to ‌escalate into a shootout in Kyiv this week that ⁠left three members of the Defence Ministry's HUR Military Intelligence Directorate injured.

The ‌dispute centres on the ‌disappearance for nine days of a Russian nationalist activist fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in the 4-1/2-year-old war pitting Moscow against ​Kyiv.

The nationalist said he was detained by the SBU Security Service and obliged to sign a confession that he ⁠collaborated with Russian intelligence. He later retracted the statement.

The street clash occurred in ​central Kyiv on Tuesday after the activist's Kyiv home was searched. SBU officers fired on members of ​the HUR unit. The SBU has ‌said it was acting to prevent a Moscow-inspired plot to assassinate Russian anti-Kremlin activists in Kyiv.

"It ⁠is important that the truth come out. And that situations like this do not recur," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

"An ⁠assessment of the heads of these two agencies – the SBU and the ​HUR – will be made based on the results of an internal investigation. It is completely fair that both sides be brought to account. Both ‌acted precisely in a way that should not have happened," he said.

Two servicemen from the ‌two bodies have been issued notices of suspicion in connection with ⁠the incident. Zelenskiy has ‌dismissed the head of ​the SBU’s department for the protection of state secrets, Oleh Khramov.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Sanjeev ‌Miglani)

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