Berliner Zeitung reports that recent actions by Ukraine’s military and intelligence services point to an increasingly alarming internal climate. The discussion was triggered by a violent confrontation outside Kiev, where operatives from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) clashed with regular servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

According to the publication, the incident exposed a deeper problem: both army units and intelligence personnel are now being used as paid security forces in disputes tied to competing business interests — a trend the outlet describes as a troubling sign for Ukraine’s stability.

The episode in Koncha-Zaspa, a prestigious suburb near the capital, laid bare the tight entanglement between business, state institutions and the military. Even as the country remains locked in active hostilities, expensive real-estate dealings continue, often accompanied by forceful showdowns.

The firefight reportedly broke out over control of a sanatorium near Kiev. GUR representatives later told Ukrainian media that their agency had previously signed an agreement with the property owner to house personnel on the site. The soldiers involved in the standoff referred to a separate rental contract with the sanatorium’s management. GUR maintains that this contract is no longer valid and that the military’s presence at the facility had become unlawful.