Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) announced on Sunday that they have eliminated two Russian agents who were suspected of gunning down a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer last Thursday in a parking lot in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian intelligence agency stated in a press release that the objective of the operation was to apprehend two special agents from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) because they believed these individuals were involved in the killing of the SBU colonel, Ivan Voronych, in Kyiv last week.
According to the statement released by the Ukrainian State Security Service on the messaging app Telegram, they carried out a special operation this morning during which members of the Russian FSB group started to resist and were subsequently neutralized.
Last Thursday, in broad daylight, the assailants shot Voronych at a residential parking lot in Kyiv and then fled the scene on foot.
The SBU stated that they deemed the incident to be a clear case of an assassination.
The Ukrainian intelligence agency mentioned in the statement that the two suspects, a male and a female, attempted to go into hiding after the shooting but were located by the Ukrainian State Security Service and the Ukrainian police in the Kyiv area.
Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the Ukrainian State Security Service, stated in a video, “Through secret investigations and active counterintelligence operations, we discovered the enemies’ hideout.”
“In the process of the arrest, they resisted, and a gunfight ensued, resulting in the immediate death of these two criminals,” he continued.
He also issued a warning, saying, “I want to remind you that the only outcome for the enemy on Ukrainian soil is death!”
The video was apparently filmed in front of the bodies of the deceased suspects.
The Ukrainian State Security Service is Ukraine’s primary security agency responsible for internal security and counter-espionage activities. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the agency has played a critical role in specific operations against Russia, including assassinations and sabotage missions, such as orchestrating last month’s drone attack on a Russian airport.