Asger Risom
A colonel with Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) was gunned down in broad daylight Thursday morning, in what authorities are investigating as a targeted assassination.
A brazen daylight killing in the heart of Ukraine’s capital has shaken the country’s intelligence community.
The victim: a senior colonel with the SBU, gunned down in what appears to be a highly targeted assassination.
A man identified by media and officials as Colonel Ivan Voronich was killed in Kyiv’s Holosiyivsky district shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time.
According to Ukrainian outlets RBC-Ukraine and Ukrayinska Pravda, the assailant chased the officer before firing five rounds from a pistol at close range. The attacker then fled the scene.
Surveillance footage believed to show the moment of the shooting was later shared on public websites, though authorities have not officially verified the video.
Police confirmed they found the victim with gunshot wounds and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigation Underway
Ukraine’s Security Service has opened a formal investigation into the killing, which is being treated under Article 348 of the country’s criminal code; attempted murder of a law enforcement or military officer.
The motive remains unclear, but Ukrainian officials have not ruled out the possibility of a politically motivated or intelligence-linked operation.
Confirmed by Former Officials
The killing was also confirmed by Roman Chervynskyy, a former intelligence officer, and Ihor Mosiychuk, a former member of parliament. Both identified the victim as Voronich and referred to his active service with the SBU.
As reported by Digi24, Ukrainian authorities are continuing to search for the suspect. The brazen nature of the attack, which occurred in daylight in a residential neighborhood, has raised concerns about security vulnerabilities within Kyiv.
Voronich’s assassination marks one of the highest-profile killings of a Ukrainian intelligence officer since the start of the full-scale war with Russia.
