Ukraine’s security agency said Sunday they have located and killed two Russian operatives accused of assassinating one of its senior officers.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) revealed that its operatives “neutralized” two Russian “assassins” in the Kyiv area on Sunday morning. This action followed the murder of SBU Colonel Ivan Voronych, which occurred in broad daylight on Thursday.

Voronych, whose attack was filmed by surveillance cameras, was allegedly engaged in secret missions within Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. He was also thought to have been involved in organizing the unexpected Ukrainian raid into Russia’s Kursk area last year.

“In a special operation, members of the Security Service of Ukraine successfully stopped agents of Russian special services who, acting under orders from the FSB of the Russian Federation, were responsible for the murder of an SBU colonel in Kyiv,” stated the SBU report.

A suspect is seen running away from the area after the shooting on Thursday, July 10, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (East2West)

Malyuk also thanked the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department for its support and emphasized that countering Russian espionage remains a top SBU priority. He claimed the SBU “prevents 85% of the crimes the enemy tries to commit” within Ukraine.

Last Thursday, sources told Ukrainska Pravda that Voronych was approached by an unidentified attacker around 9 a.m. local time and was shot five times with a pistol before the suspect fled.

Surveillance footage appeared to show the colonel being ambushed outside an apartment building while walking toward a vehicle. Voronych died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds, the outlet said.

Both Russia and Ukraine have carried out targeted killings since the war began in February 2022.