An investigation has been launched and a high-ranking official dismissed after Ukrainian intelligence personnel opened fire on each other in Kyiv during an operation to foil an alleged Russian plot, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemning the clash as “absolutely disgraceful”. The gunfight on Wednesday involved personnel from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), leaving several intelligence officers wounded, according to Ukrainian authorities. Zelenskyy said shooting in Ukraine was permitted only against “Russian occupiers” and ordered a thorough investigation into the incident. He also signed a presidential decree dismissing Oleg Khramov, head of the SBU’s department for the protection of state secrets. The decree did not provide a specific reason for the dismissal.The SBU said its team was carrying out a counterterrorism operation linked to an alleged plot by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) when a group of people attacked its officers and blocked their vehicles. The agency said its officers opened fire to stop the armed resistance and that an initial investigation had established that the people detained belonged to a unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The alleged assailants “attempted to obstruct the investigation and blocked the law enforcement officers’ passage with their vehicles,” the SBU said, adding that their officers “used their weapons to stop the armed resistance.” “The initial investigation has revealed that the detainees belong to one of the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the SBU said, with Ukrainian media outlets reporting that they were members of the HUR. Posting on social media, Zelenskyy said: “Shooting here in Ukraine is permitted only at Russian occupiers, in defense of Ukraine. Our state will never regard any other shootout as acceptable.” It is unclear what sparked the armed clash, but several Ukrainian media outlets reported that the SBU operation was connected to a suspected Russian plot against the deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a unit of anti-Kremlin Russian nationals fighting alongside Ukraine which is part of the HUR. The shooting comes amid a spate of incidents in recent months that have highlighted tensions among segments of Ukrainian society as the country increasingly feels the effects of war fatigue after more than four and a half years of Russian attacks. An incident in July saw Ukrainian authorities clash with residents in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine after military personnel stopped a man who allegedly failed to register for mandatory service in the armed forces, with a large crowd overturning a military vehicle and an officer receiving injuries.