**The article details the events surrounding the killing of Col Ivan Voronych and the subsequent actions taken by Ukrainian authorities.**
**Ukraine Strikes Back: Two Russian Agents Eliminated Following Intelligence Officer's Assassination**
**Ukraine Strikes Back: Two Russian Agents Eliminated Following Intelligence Officer's Assassination**
**In a bold move, Ukraine's Security Service has reported the elimination of two Russian agents following the assassination of a senior Ukrainian officer.**
Ukraine has announced the death of two agents working for Russia in retaliation for the assassination of Colonel Ivan Voronych, a senior officer of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU). In a video statement, SBU head Vasyl Malyuk stated that the agents of Russia's FSB were "liquidated" on Sunday morning after allegedly resisting arrest.
Col Voronych was shot multiple times in a car park in Kyiv on July 10, experiencing a daylight attack by an unidentified assailant who promptly fled. Ukrainian police reported that the two agents killed were "citizens of a foreign country," but did not specify further details. The Kremlin has remained silent regarding this recent development.
CCTV footage verified by Reuters captured the moments leading up to the assassination, showing a man leaving a building as another approached him. The SBU claimed these agents had been monitoring Col Voronych's movements and, upon the attack, sought to conceal themselves. However, their efforts were thwarted in a collaborative investigation with national law enforcement.
The SBU's mandate typically entails internal security and counter-intelligence operations, akin to the UK's MI5. Nevertheless, since Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the agency has taken on a more aggressive role, reportedly orchestrating various sabotage and assassination attempts deep within Russia. Sources within Ukrainian security personnel have indicated that the SBU was behind the December 2024 killing of Russian General Igor Kirillov.
This operation arrives against the backdrop of escalating conflict, with President Volodymyr Zelensky stating that Ukraine recently confronted its largest Russian aerial attack to date. The UN has cataloged the highest civilian casualties in over three years during June, signaling a grim picture of the ongoing war. Meanwhile, Russian military advancements in eastern Ukraine have made slow progress, reclaiming territory previously seized during a surprising Ukrainian offensive last year.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in this nearly four-year-long conflict have stalled, while the United States has recommenced military aid to Ukraine, emphasizing the heightened strife and shifting morale amidst intensified drone warfare.
