Ukrainian Authorities Investigate Assassination of SBU Senior Officer in Kyiv
Ukrainian authorities and surveillance footage have revealed that a senior military officer of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) was fatally shot on Thursday (July 10) in a residential parking lot in Kyiv. The perpetrator fled the scene on foot in broad daylight.
The Kyiv police are working to confirm the identity of the shooter and taking action to apprehend the suspect. An official confirmed to Reuters that the deceased was a colonel in the Security Service.
In a statement, the SBU mentioned that the incident occurred in the Holosiivskyi district, south of Kyiv, and a criminal investigation has been launched, although the identity of the victim has not been made public.
According to the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, sources stated that the gunman fired five shots from a handgun, and the victim was identified as Colonel Ivan Voronych.
Surveillance footage circulating on social media shows a man in jeans exiting a residential building, walking towards the parking lot where he was approached by another man who then shot him before fleeing the scene.
As of now, the SBU and police have not disclosed the motive behind the shooting. The SBU stated in a release that they are working diligently with the National Police to uncover all details of the case and bring the perpetrator to justice.
Several military bloggers close to the Kremlin welcomed the incident. Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots expressed his hope that the action was carried out by Russian intelligence agencies.
Russian officials have not commented on the event.
Acting as Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, the SBU employs thousands of staff primarily tasked with security and counter-espionage missions. Since the 2022 Russian invasion, the SBU has been significantly involved in special operations targeting Russian interests, including assassinations and sabotage missions.
One such operation, known as “Spider’s Web,” involved drone strikes on a strategic Russian airbase hundreds of miles away from Ukraine; there was also an assassination attempt in Moscow where a bomb concealed in a skateboard killed a senior Russian military officer.