Russia launched its largest drone and missile barrage on Ukraine, causing widespread damage and injuries. Photo / Getty Images
Russia launched its largest drone and missile barrage on Ukraine, causing widespread damage and injuries. Photo / Getty Images
Ukrainian officials have blamed Russia for the daylight murder of senior security officer.
The senior Ukrainian spy was shot dead by an assassin using a silenced pistol on the streets of Kyiv.
Colonel Ivan Voronich, a senior operational officer in Ukraine’s security service, was crossing the street near a blockof flats in the capital’s Holosiivskyi district when he was approached by a man with a gun.
Footage shared on Telegram showed the moment Voronich was shot five times next to a row of parked cars.
Following the attack, a man can be seen running along the street in the opposite direction while stuffing a gun into his shorts.
The senior security service officer died at the scene, according to Ihar Mosiychuk, a former Ukrainian MP, who blamed Russian special services for the attack.
Voronich was reportedly the head of the 1st division of the 16th department in Ukraine’s security service, which focuses on high-level operations including counter-terrorism, special operations and security missions.
However, both sides of the Ukraine-Russia conflict have carried out assassinations since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
A high-ranking Russian general and his assistant were killed in Moscow by Ukraine’s security service last December.
Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, the head of Moscow’s radiation, biological and chemical defence forces, was outside a residential block when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.
Another senior Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow earlier this year.
General Yaroslav Moskalik died when a Volkswagen Golf exploded after an improvised device stuffed with pellets went off in April.
Russia’s federal security service claimed to have killed a Ukrainian spy allegedly plotting to assassinate a defence industry executive in September 2024.
Moscow has stepped up attacks on civilians in recent months, regularly targeting major cities such as Kyiv and Dnipro.
Russian forces fired a total of 741 missiles and drones on Tuesday night, breaking the record for the number of projectiles launched that had been set the Friday before.
Russia launched its largest drone and missile barrage on Ukraine, causing widespread damage and injuries. Photo / Getty Images
On Wednesday night, Russia fired 400 drones and 18 missiles in an almost 10-hour attack, killing two people in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian President added that the attack showed the need for further sanctions against the Kremlin.
“This demands that we speed things up. Sanctions must be imposed faster, and pressure on Russia must be strong enough that they truly feel the consequences of their terror,” he said.
Zelenskyy also urged Ukraine’s allies to boost investment in Ukrainian weapons production during a visit to Rome.
“This is what we must focus on first – we must stop Russian drones and missiles. This means more air defence supplies and investments in interceptor drones, air defence systems, and missiles,” he said.
“I urge all our partners – increase your investments. When Russia increases its attacks, we cannot have a shortage of funding.”
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, said commitments worth a total of about €10 billion ($20b) would be made, without giving further details.
Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, said his country was ready to accept crucial Patriot missile interceptors from the United States, before sending them to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, said he had a “frank” conversation with Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a frank conversation. It was an important one,” Rubio told reporters. “I echoed what the President said, both disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress.”
