Ukrainian intelligence officer shot dead in Kiev

A Ukrainian Internal Security Service officer (SBU) was shot several times in a parking lot after an unidentified assailant approached and then ran away, according to images circulated in social media, the BBC reported.

The spying agency did not identify the victim, although Ukrainian media identified him as Colonel Ivan Voronych.

The SBU deals mainly with internal security and counterintelligence, similar to the MI5 of the United Kingdom. However, since the beginning of Russia's full - scale invasion in 2022, it has also played a prominent role in murder and sabotage within Russia.

BBC sources within Ukraine's security services have previously told the media, including the BBC, that they were behind the murder of top Russian General Igor Kirillov in December 2024.

Earlier this year, General Yaroslav Moscow was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow, an incident that Kremlin blamed Kiev. Ukrainian security services have not officially accepted responsibility for the deaths.

Neither SBU nor Kiev police provided a possible motive for shooting.

Police in the Ukrainian capital said in a statement that the officers arrived at the scene and found the body of a man with wounds caused by the firearm.

He said officers were working to identify the assailant and that “steps are being taken for his capture”.

The SBU said it was taking a series of comprehensive measures to clarify all the crime circumstances and bring authors to justice”.

The images of security cameras, verified by Reuters news agency, show a man wearing jeans and a dark T-shirt coming out of a building in Holosivsky's southern neighborhood shortly after 9:00am local time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday.

As he walks toward a nearby car carrying a plastic bag and a bag, another man may be seen running toward him.