Ukraine Strikes Back: Russian FSB Assassins Killed in Kyiv Gunfight
In a rare statement, Ukraine’s security agency claims it neutralized members of an FSB hit squad accused of murdering Colonel Ivan Voronich last week in broad daylight.
TwitterUkrainian security forces carried out a targeted operation in Kyiv on Sunday morning, killing several alleged Russian spies suspected of involvement in the assassination of a senior officer in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), Colonel Ivan Voronich.
The SBU announced in a Telegram statement that the suspects were believed to be operatives of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), who orchestrated the assassination last Thursday in the Holosiivskyi district of southern Kyiv.
Surveillance footage from the scene showed the moment a gunman, dressed in jeans, approached Colonel Voronich in a residential parking lot and shot him five times at point-blank range before fleeing on foot.
Today’s raid was conducted at multiple safe houses in Kyiv, according to the SBU. During the attempted arrests, a firefight broke out, resulting in the deaths of some of the suspects. The agency did not specify how many were killed or whether the exact perpetrators were among them.
The SBU believes the killing was carried out by a male and female team, but has not released further details about their identities.
Colonel Voronich, who was assassinated in daylight hours, was a senior figure in Ukraine’s internal intelligence agency, known for its counterintelligence operations against Russian infiltration since the 2022 invasion.
Since the war began, the SBU has claimed responsibility for a series of high-risk operations, including sabotage deep inside Russia, drone strikes on military installations, and targeted assassinations of top Russian figures.