Ukraine’s intelligence agency announced it had killed two Russian agents accused of assassinating Colonel Ivan Voronych, a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer, in Kyiv. The SBU’s statement described how the agents, operating under the orders of Russia’s FSB, had studied Voronych’s movements before killing him in broad daylight. The operation to eliminate the agents was personally overseen by SBU chief Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk.

Kyiv Security Forces Eliminate Russian Agents

In a rare public announcement, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it had killed two Russian agents allegedly responsible for the brazen assassination of Col. Ivan Voronych, a senior intelligence figure known for his role in operations targeting Russian assets. Voronych was shot dead in a Kyiv parking lot last Thursday in what has been called one of the most daring killings on Ukrainian soil since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

The SBU initially reported that Voronych’s killing was carried out by a lone assailant, but on Sunday revealed new details, stating that a man and woman had been acting under the orders of Russia’s FSB. They had surveilled Voronych’s routine before retrieving a silenced pistol from a secret cache and executing the attack. Their identities have not been disclosed.

Prominent Russian commentators, including war reporter Aleksandr Kots, celebrated the assassination on social media, declaring: “The enemy must be afraid on his own territory.”

Following Voronych’s assassination, the SBU launched a targeted operation led by its chief, Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk. Ukrainian counterintelligence located the suspects’ hideout, reportedly in a residential area. In a video released by the SBU, Malyuk said the agents resisted arrest and opened fire before being killed. Footage showed their bodies lying amid foliage, one with a white purse beside it.

Malyuk issued a stark warning: “The only prospect of the enemy on the territory of Ukraine is death.”