A high-ranking officer with Ukraine’s Security Service, SBU, was gunned down in broad daylight in the capital city of Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials and local media reports.
The officer, whose identity was not officially confirmed by the agency, was shot multiple times in a car park shortly after 09:00 local time on Thursday in the Holosiivskyi district.
Ukrainian media, however, have identified the victim as Colonel Ivan Voronych.
Chilling CCTV footage shows a man in jeans and a dark T-shirt exiting a building while carrying a plastic bag and a holdall.
As he approaches a parked car, another man, wearing dark shorts and what appears to be body armour, sprints towards him and opens fire at close range. The attacker fled the scene immediately after the shooting.
The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, said it is “taking a comprehensive set of measures to clarify all the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The motive for the attack remains unclear, and no group or persons has claimed responsibility. Kyiv police confirmed in a statement that officers found the victim’s body with gunshot wounds and are working to identify and apprehend the suspect, saying that “measures are being taken to detain him.”
Ukrainska Pravda, citing unnamed sources, reported that the assailant used a pistol and fired five shots at the officer.
While speculation has mounted due to the nature of the killing and the target, officials have refrained from suggesting any specific leads publicly.
The killing comes amid an intensifying security environment inside Ukraine, especially as its intelligence services have played increasingly visible roles in covert operations.
The SBU has been credited with numerous sabotage missions and targeted assassinations deep inside Russian territory since the onset of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
In December 2024, sources from within Ukraine’s security services told international media outlets that they were behind the killing of Russian General Igor Kirillov.
Another senior Russian military figure, General Yaroslav Moskalik, was killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow earlier this year, an incident Russia blamed on Ukrainian agents, although Kyiv has never officially claimed responsibility.
The assassination also comes on the heels of what Ukrainian officials described as one of the most intense aerial bombardments by Russia since the war began.
Just days earlier, 728 drones and 13 cruise or ballistic missiles reportedly struck multiple cities across Ukraine, prompting widespread destruction and civilian casualties.
Overnight into Thursday, further Russian missile strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people and wounded 16 others, with attacks reported in eight districts.
According to officials, Russia launched 18 missiles and over 400 drones, a clear indication of the scale and persistence of the assault on civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, fighting on the front line rages on. Russian forces are said to be gaining ground in the east and have reclaimed territory in the Kursk region that was previously seized by Ukrainian troops during a counter-offensive last summer.
As the war stretches into its fourth year, diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire have stagnated. Tensions between global leaders remain high, with U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the lack of progress in peace negotiations.
Russia continues to occupy about one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
