Murder of Ukrainian Security Service colonel in Kyiv: What we know about the ambush and the victim
Illustrative photo: SBU colonel was killed in Kyiv (facebook.com/SecurSerUkraine)
This morning, July 10, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) colonel Ivan Voronych was shot dead in Kyiv. Law enforcement has opened a criminal case. The attacker has not yet been found.
RBC-Ukraine has gathered everything known at this moment about the murder.
Key questions:
- Where and when did the attempt on the SBU colonel’s life take place?
- What is known about the deceased Ivan Voronych?
- What measures are being taken to detain the attacker?
- What are the circumstances of the murder?
Around 9 a.m. (Kyiv time), gunshots were heard in the Holosiivskyi district of the capital.
Information immediately began spreading in local Telegram channels that on 7 Mykhaila Maksymovycha Street, an attacker fired five aimed shots at a man with a pistol equipped with a silencer.
The victim died on the spot from gunshot wounds. After committing the crime, the attacker immediately fled in an SUV in an unknown direction.
Investigative and operational teams from the district and main police departments, criminal investigation officers, and other services arrived at the scene to establish all the circumstances of the assassination attempt.
The National Police stated that the person involved in the crime has not yet been identified, but all necessary measures are being taken to capture the attacker.
Who was the target
Colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Voronych was killed. It was confirmed by the SBU press service.
Law enforcement has already opened a criminal proceeding under Article 348 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer, member of a public formation for the protection of public order and the state border, or a serviceman).
The SBU noted that, together with the National Police, they are taking measures to clarify all the circumstances of the crime and bring those responsible to justice.
About Ivan Voronych
The SBU officer Ivan Voronych, who was killed today, had been fighting against the Russian military since 2014.
Some facts about him were shared on social media by former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi and former SBU official and current Azov officer Yurii Mykhalchyshyn.
According to Chervinskyi, the late Ivan Voronych was one of those who initiated in the Security Service of Ukraine a direction that is now causing many problems for the Russians.
Chervinskyi assumed in a post that the assassination was carried out by an enemy saboteur.
Screenshot t.me/ChervinskiyRoman
Yurii Mykhalchyshyn said that Ivan Voronych served for many years in the department for the protection of national statehood of the SBU office in the Lviv region. After the Anti-Terrorist Operation started in 2014, he moved to counterintelligence.
Mykhalchyshyn recalls Voronych as a modest, patriotic, and respectful officer who even interrogated him in the case of “calls to overthrow the constitutional order” in 2011 during Yanukovych’s presidency.
Screenshot facebook.com/mykhalchyshyn
He added that after Maidan, Voronych was among the first to go on assignment to the ATO zone and took part in the detention of the sabotage group Yamal. Since 2014, he has been fighting against the Russian army.
Sources: Kyiv National Police on Facebook, SBU comments to the media, Roman Chervinskyi’s Telegram post, and a message on Yurii Mykhalchyshyn’s Facebook page.
