Ukrainian intelligence officer gunned down in Kyiv

A senior Ukrainian intelligence officer was gunned down in broad daylight in Kyiv, officials said on Friday as a maternity hospital was hit by a Russian drone barrage on the city of Kharkiv.

Surveillance footage published on social media showed the agent was executed in a car park by a gunman clad in dark clothing who fled the scene. Police said they were trying to identify the shooter and that “measures are being taken to detain him”.

The victim’s name has not been publicly disclosed and the identity of the suspect remains unclear. A Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) official said that the intelligence officer had been a colonel, according to Reuters.

Ukrainska Pravda has claimed the agent was Colonel Ivan Voronych, adding he died at the scene after the assailant fired five aimed gun shots. The New York Times claimed that Voronych was a part of the SBU’s Centre for Special Operations Alpha and had been within the organisation for decades.

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Kyiv Police confirmed a man was shot in the capital on Thursday. They said in a statement on social media: “Police officers establish circumstances of shooting in Holosiivskyi district of the capital.

“Arriving on call, law enforcement officers discovered the body of a man with a gunshot wound.

“Currently, investigative and operational groups of the district and main police departments, criminal investigation officers, dog handlers and other services are working at the scene. All circumstances of the incident are being established.”

It remains unclear whether the agent’s death was a domestic issue or an assassination. The Independent has contacted Kyiv Police and the SBU for comment.

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The SBU is Ukraine’s internal security and counter-intelligence base, but since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country three years ago, it has played a role in assassinations and sabotage attacks in Moscow.

The internal security agency played a key role in Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web attack on Russia last month, which is believed to have destroyed 40 Russian bombers used to pummel the war torn country over the past three years.

It came as a Russian drone barrage targeted the center of Kharkiv on Friday, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital.

Mothers with newborns were being evacuated, mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. He didn't say if anyone at the hospital was among the injured.

Russia's recent escalation of long-range Shahed drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, which often also include ballistic and cruise missiles as well as powerful glide bombs, has brought renewed urgency to efforts to improve Ukraine's air defenses after more than three years of war.

“There is no silence in Ukraine,” president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

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June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said on Thursday. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year.

At the same time, Russia's bigger army is pressing hard on parts of the 620-mile front line, where thousands of soldiers on both sides have died since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine desperately needs more US-made Patriot air defense systems to stop Russian missiles and more interceptor drones to bring down the Russian-made Shaheds.

Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US is sending weapons including Patriots to other Nato countries that are paying Washington for them and giving them to Ukraine.

He said in an interview with NBC he would make “a major statement” about Russia on Monday but didn't elaborate.

After repeated Russian drone and missile onslaughts in Kyiv, authorities announced Friday they are establishing a comprehensive drone interception system under a project called "Clear Sky."

The project includes a $6.2 million investment in interceptor drones, operator training, and new mobile response units, according to the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report