Ukraine’s security agency kills Russian agents suspected of killing senior officer

Ukrainian intelligence agents on Sunday killed members of a Russian secret service cell wanted on suspicion of having shot dead a colonel in Ukraine's SBU security service last week, the SBU said.

The agents, believed to work for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) security service, were “liquidated” after resisting arrest on Sunday morning, SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk said in a video statement.

"This morning a special operation was conducted, during which the members of the Russian FSB's agent cell started to resist, and therefore they were liquidated," the statement on the Telegram messaging app said.

Ukraine’s national police said the two were foreign nationals, a man and a woman, but gave no further details. Moscow has not responded.

The killing follows the assassination of Colonel Ivan Voronych, who was shot several times on 10 July in a car park in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district. CCTV footage showed a man approaching Voronych before shooting him and fleeing.

The SBU said the suspects had tracked Voronych’s movements and were sent the coordinates of a hiding place where a pistol with a silencer was found.

Authorities said that after the shooting, the agents had tried to hide but were discovered following a joint investigation with national police.

Copied