SBU Colonel Ivan Vironich shot dead? Pro-Russia Telegram celebrates CCTV video of military man's murder in Kyiv

A Colonel attached to Ukraine's Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was shot dead in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district on Thursday. The SBU is the internal security agency of the Ukrainian government, which had recently shocked Russia with a successful major drone offensive targeting multiple military airfields deep inside the Russian mainland.

 

The Colonel was reportedly gunned down around 10:30 AM by an unidentified gunman who is yet to be apprehended. First responders found the man lying lifeless in a parking area as a consequence of the firing. A joint manhunt by the Security Service and the National Police is in progress. Dog squads, criminal police, and other emergency units were also deployed to assist the probe, the Kyiv Post said in a report.

 

Meanwhile, a video claiming to be of the fatal attack has appeared on the internet. In CCTV footage, the low-quality visuals showed a man approaching a car before another individual hurries up to him to fire multiple shots before fleeing the scene. THE WEEK couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the video, which has been endorsed by mainstream Ukrainian media outlets.

 

A surveillance video of the murder has gone viral on social media, showing a man approaching a car with a shopping bag in his hand before being shot by another who seems to be waiting for the taget to show up. The assailant appears to fire several shots, and then flees the scene. People can be seen scrambling in the area – presumably scared by the gunshots.

 

Ukraine is yet to reveal further information on the murder, including the professional responsibilities held by the SBU Colonel.

 

However, pro-Russian Telegram outlets claimed that the slain officer was Colonel Ivan Vironich, who was the senior operational officer of the 16th Department of the Special Operations Centre.The photos released in these channels look similar to the parking lot scene in the viral video. The clothes of the victim, seen lying motionless, also correspond to those of the man targeted in the CCTV visuals.

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