Ukraine ‘eliminates' Russian spies in Kyiv shootout
The man and woman killed were thought to be part of Russia's FSB and behind the daylight assassination of one of Ukraine's top spies this week.
The pair are thought to have coordinated the operation on July 10 in which Col Ivan Voronich, a senior operational officer in Ukraine's security service, was shot dead by a pistol with a silencer on the street in Ukraine's capital.
The suspected assassins were found hiding in a spy den in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian intelligence services.
Both agents were killed in a gunfight with Ukraine's SBU security service after they attempted to resist arrest. The security service did not disclose if others were killed in the gunfight.
In a video address posted to Telegram, Vasyl Malyuk, the head of Ukraine's Security Service, said: 'As a result of covert investigative and active counter-intelligence activities, the enemy lair was discovered.'
'During detention, they began to resist. There was a gunfight, so the villains were eliminated. I would like to remind you that the enemy's only prospect on the territory of Ukraine is death.'
Lt Gen Malyuk claimed that the pair had been instructed by a supervisor to monitor the SBU officer and memorise his daily routine, before being handed coordinates to a cache where a pistol with a silencer was stored.
Col Voronich was shot five times by a masked man using the silenced pistol in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv on Thursday morning.
The senior security officer died at the scene as footage posted to Telegram showed the assailant running away, stuffing the weapon into the pocket of his shorts.
Col Voronich, who reportedly headed a division of Ukraine's security service focusing on high-level operations, is thought to have played a hand in sensitive sabotage missions carried out within Russian territory.
Ukraine has dealt Russia a series of recent blows in the form of assassinations of high-ranking military officials.
Earlier this month, Russian Maj Gen Mikhail Gudkov, deputy commander of the Russian Navy, was killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on a command post in the Kursk region with a US-made HIMARS missile.
Maj Gen Gudkov, who was one of Vladimir Putin's most prized senior officers, was the latest of at least 10 Russian major generals or lieutenant generals to have been killed in the war so far.
Col Sergei Ilyin, the commander of an elite Russian marine unit, is also thought to have died in the missile strike, according to a since-deleted post by officials from his home district and unverified claims by pro-war Russian bloggers.
In April, Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the main operations directorate of Russia's army, was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow in an operation the Kremlin attributed to Ukraine.
It comes as Russia's defence ministry claims that its forces have captured the villages of Mykolaivka and Myrne in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine in their advance towards the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that at least six people had been killed across Ukraine in the latest in a series of gruelling overnight strikes by Russia which used hundreds of drones and long-range missiles.
Russia has also been strengthening relations with North Korea during a three-day visit by Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.
North Korean state media reported on Sunday that Kim Jong-un had reaffirmed his 'unconditional support' for Moscow in the war in Ukraine, after an intelligence assessment from Ukrainian officials claimed that North Korea could triple the number of its troops fighting with Russia on the front lines.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Protests in Kyiv as Ukraine clamps down on anti-corruption bodies
Ukraine is no longer a genuine democracy, a prominent critic of President Zelensky has alleged, as protesters rallied in Kyiv against a government crackdown on two major anti-corruption organisations that could derail the country's bid to join the European Union. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian parliament approved a bill that brought the national anti-corruption bureau, known as Nabu, and the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor's office, Sapo, under the direct control of the country's prosecutor general, who answers to the president. Zelensky signed the legislation into force just hours later. He said it was necessary to purge the organisations of 'Russian influence,' but gave no other details. Both organisations were founded with western assistance following the 2014 Maidan revolution in Kyiv that toppled Viktor Yanukovych, the country's notoriously corrupt pro-Moscow leader. They were tasked with acting as independent groups that would root out and prosecute corruption without political interference. Last month, Nabu named Oleksii Chernyshov, who was at the time a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, as a suspect in a 'large-scale' corruption scheme led by a property developer from Kyiv. Chernyshov, who is said to be a close friend of Zelensky's, was the highest-placed Ukrainian official in history to be charged with corruption. He denied the charges, but lost his post in government this month when Zelensky appointed a new cabinet. At a rally near the presidential office in Kyiv on Tuesday evening, several thousand protesters, who included soldiers, condemned the move against the anti-corruption groups as a sign of growing authoritarianism and a betrayal of the ideas that powered the Maidan revolution. 'Ukraine is not Russia!' some chanted, while others held up signs saying 'Corruption = Death.' Zelensky's government has also recently proposed legislation that would block investigating corruption in the defence sector. The demonstration was the first significant show of public dissent against Zelensky since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv who has frequently clashed with Zelensky, was among the protesters. 'Sapo and Nabu must remain independent institutions,' he said. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's former foreign minister, called the measures 'a bad day' for Ukraine. Marta Kos, the EU's top official for enlargement, warned that the move to clamp down on the agencies was 'a serious step back' for Kyiv's membership bid. She also said that their ability to operate without interference from the government was 'essential for Ukraine's EU path.' The offices of the two agencies were raided by Ukraine's security services on Monday over the claims that they had been infiltrated by Moscow. Opposition figures said the searches were an act of intimidation. Zelensky's move came after Vitaliy Shabunin, a well-known anti-corruption activist, was charged with fraud and evading military service in a case that was widely condemned as politically motivated. He faces up to ten years in prison, if found guilty. He is currently serving with the Ukrainian military. His house in Kyiv was raided by masked Ukrainian investigators while his wife and two small children were at home and he was stationed at a military base. 'After these events, I feel like Ukraine is no longer a full-fledged democracy. It feels more like a hybrid regime, still democratic, but with elements of authoritarianism and kleptocracy,' Shabunin, 40, told The Times in an interview from a location around 20 miles from the frontline. The co-founder of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Center, an independent group, Shabunin said the charges against him were absurd because he had volunteered for service on the first day of the war and was then later seconded to work on anti-corruption efforts, an order he could not legally refuse. 'This is pure political persecution,' he said. Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation has denied that the case is linked to Shabunin's anti-corruption activities. The raid on his home came almost five years to the day since his house was set on fire in apparent retaliation for his work. No one has been arrested over the attack. Shabunin also warned that Zelensky had crossed a 'red line' by moving against anti-corruption organisations. 'Ukrainians have always had a very, very strong demand for justice. And Ukrainians, like no one else, sense when the president does not give a damn about justice, and when he personally attacks it.' He suggested that Zelensky had become confident that he now had a free hand in Ukraine because Kyiv's western allies were now less focused on strengthening the country's democracy. 'Zelensky is showing his true face because the West, to put it mildly, is turning a blind eye. This is the real Zelensky, not the person we saw when the United States and the European Union demanded reforms and a fight against corruption,' he said. He also warned that Zelensky's determination to rein in independent anti-corruption groups could lead to violent protests. 'We will not be dancing on Maidan this time,' he said. 'Half of the country has combat experience. This is a scenario that [President] Putin is likely dreaming about. God forbid it should come to this. This is why it is in the interests of the West to stop Zelensky now, before such a confrontation.' He said, however, that western countries should continue to arm Kyiv. 'I don't think Zelensky will forgive me for speaking out so loudly. [But] whatever happens to me or whatever happens in the country, we want the West to continue to give weapons to Ukrainians and Ukraine. We need to survive. We know how to deal with our corrupt authoritarian elites. But without weapons we will die.' Zelensky's first term was due to end in May 2024, but Ukraine has banned elections during wartime, a policy that has wide support across the country. Although his popularity has slipped since the early days of the 2022 invasion by Russia, the Ukrainian president is still the country's second most trusted figure after Valery Zaluzhny, the former commander of the Ukrainian armed forces who is now Kyiv's ambassador in London, according to polls. It is unclear, however, how the unfolding row will impact Zelensky's ratings. One European diplomat speaking on the condition of anonymity described the measures against the anti-corruption groups as 'unfortunate,' but insisted there was still hope for Ukrainian democracy. 'Is it a setback? Yes. Is this a point of no-return? No,' the official said, according to the AFP news agency. However, the confrontation has opened up an unprecedented rift between the Ukrainian leader and civil society. The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine's main English-language website, accused Zelensky of betraying the country's democracy. 'Zelensky is making a choice to undermine Ukrainian democratic institutions in pursuit of expanding his personal power,' it wrote in an editorial. 'The same man who represents Ukraine's fight against Russia can't represent the destruction of Ukraine's democracy.' Back in Kyiv, protesters said that they were determined to keep battling to ensure Ukraine did not slide back into its authoritarian past. 'They are legalising corruption, and I have to fight against this' said Artyom, an 18-year-old protester. 'Our democratic institutions and democracy itself is collapsing,' said Kateryna, another protester.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Melania was ‘quiet force' behind Trump's Putin stance, says daughter of Ukraine envoy
Melania Trump is the 'quiet force' behind her husband's apparent U-turn on Ukraine, the daughter of the president's special envoy to Kyiv has said. Meaghan Mobbs, whose father Gen Keith Kellogg was appointed to lead efforts for peace, said the first lady had put pressure on Donald Trump to protect 'innocent Ukrainians' from Vladimir Putin's bombs. Ms Mobbs, who lives under near-daily bombardment in Kyiv, spoke to The Telegraph about the first lady's influence in an interview in which she also claimed the president was no longer listening to the pro-Russian wing of his Maga movement. Of the first lady, Ms Mobbs said: '[Mr Trump] deeply values her counsel. They have a very, open, conversational relationship and she is one of his closest advisers. People seem to forget that for some reason; maybe because she's so beautiful, or she's not frequently in Washington.' Mr Trump recently hinted at his wife's influence on Ukraine after he announced a deal to deliver billions of dollars of weapons and sanction Russia. 'I go home, I tell the first lady: 'You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.' And she said: 'Oh really? Another city was just hit,'' the president told journalists at the Oval Office. Ms Mobbs said Melania, who grew up near the Iron Curtain in former Yugoslavia, could now play a pivotal role if the president can secure a lasting peace. 'I think as we think about the future of Ukraine, or post war Ukraine, I think her influence could be very important, and I think that she could be and she should and could play a huge role.' Asked if Mrs Trump could make an unannounced visit to Western Ukraine like Jill Biden, her predecessor, Ms Mobbs said: 'I think it would be fabulous. 'I've always told people the best way to approach Melania around all of this is through fashion, through art, which is the other piece of it. 'It's both around the victimisation of children and women, which you feel so deeply about, and around this like the very, very beautiful and interesting, creative side of Ukraine that will be fascinating to her.' Ms Mobbs, a mother of two, runs the RT Weatherman Foundation humanitarian mission. She is an ardent supporter of Mr Trump and close to her father, Gen Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general. During the opening months of Mr Trump's presidency, Gen Kellogg appeared to have been frozen out of discussions about the future of Ukraine and Russia in favour of more pro-Putin forces inside the Maga wing of the Republican party. But he has recently seen his star rising, alongside other more hawkish officials including Marco Rubio, the secretary of state. Ms Mobbs said she now believes Mr Trump has turned his back on the Putin cheerleaders to embrace Ukraine, claiming that 'bad actors' in conservative America no longer have the president's ear. 'I shouldn't call them conservatives, I don't think they're conservatives. But in a social media influencer network that was spreading misinformation and disinformation about Ukraine, I think, unfortunately, for a period of time, they had the president's ear. 'I do think that is changing.' Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand Republican and Steve Bannon, a former chief strategist, are amongst those to have raised concerns about Mr Trump's $10bn deal with Nato allies to send US-made military equipment to Ukraine. Others, like Tucker Carlson, former Fox News anchor, have remained silent, but are known for their pro-Kremlin views and abilities to influence Mr Trump's decision making. Ms Mobbs argues that there is nothing more Maga or 'pro-American' than sending weapons to Ukriane, especially if someone else picks up the bill. Under the deal brokered between Mr Trump and Nato, allies have promised to largely pay for missiles, Patriot air-defence systems and ammunition delivered to Kyiv by Washington. 'This is a major Maga win, right? And nothing is more Maga than getting someone else to pay for our stuff.' She added: 'I think supporting Ukraine is the most pro-American thing you can do. And I think dad deeply believes that as well.' Gen Kellogg has been shuttling back and forth to Kyiv, where Ms Mobbs resides, for months relaying Ukraine's demands. Hours after Mr Trump and Putin discussed an end to the war over the telephone, Moscow launched a torrent of missiles and drones in the direction of the Ukrainian capital. 'It's not something to be flippant about, but I was a little bit like, 'Dad, you know how bad things are, let's be honest no peace here,'' the 38-year-old explained. Gen Kellogg's main strategy for convincing his boss to change tack was to explain that Mr Trump could one day end up on the wrong side of history, alongside the likes of Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister best known for not standing up to Adolf Hitler. Repeating her father's warnings to Mr Trump, Ms Mobbs said: 'Mr President, if you do not change course here, this is how history will remember you, and I know you do not want that.' Just four days after Mr Trump and Mark Rutte, Nato's secretary-general, announced the support deal in the Oval Office, Ukraine received its first Patriot air-defence battery and the interceptor missiles to be used alongside it. It would normally take months between promised deliveries and their emergence in the war-torn country. Mr Trump's administration has 'cut through all the bureaucratic bulls---', Ms Mobbs said. 'The rapidity of action in war is critical. 'I think the president, by the way, sees this as part of a broader effort of signalling to Putin that he's overstepped, and unlike Biden, we're going to move more aggressively and effectively.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘War is very funny for the first couple of years': how Russia's invasion transformed Ukraine's comedy scene
Anton Tymoshenko is exhausted. Ukraine's most famous standup comedian – Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn't count, since he is the president – has just returned from a gruelling European tour, involving 36 shows in 50 days. He played in Berlin, Paris and London. And Birmingham, where Tymoshenko tried unsuccessfully to buy Peaky Blinders merchandise. His audiences were made up of Ukrainians living abroad, many refugees. The tour raised nearly half a million dollars, all of which will go to Ukraine's armed forces. As well as being tired, Tymoshenko is angry at the situation his country finds itself in after Russia's invasion. 'War is very funny for the first couple of years. Then it becomes not so funny,' he says, speaking in Kyiv's popular comedy venue, the Underground Standup club. He quotes Mark Twain's observation that humour is tragedy plus time. 'We have tragedy plus tragedy plus tragedy,' he says, after a week in which Moscow has pummelled Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with hundreds of kamikaze drones and missiles. The war has transformed Ukraine's once small standup scene. A decade ago most comedians spoke in Russian. The well resourced Kremlin flooded Ukrainian channels with Russian programmes and music. In 2022, when Russian tanks arrived, all comedians switched to performing in Ukrainian. In the weeks after Russia's attack they met online, told jokes, and shared content, with some beaming in from enemy-occupied territory. 'The war gave us a cultural boost,' Tymoshenko says. 'Russian comedy isn't really comedy since they don't tell the truth, especially about politics.' Since those difficult early months, standup has become enormously popular. In 2023, Tymoshenko filled Kyiv's 3,000-seat Palace of Ukraine. Last year, he toured North America, performing for the first time in English – a challenge that forced him to test out punchlines with friends. His New Jersey set involved gags about bomb shelters ('even if you tell a bad joke, people will stay') and weapons ('I understand you can't send them all. You need to keep some for your schools.') And Joe Biden ('He's very similar to Ukrainians. He looks like he can die at any second.') He acknowledges a debt to Zelenskyy, whose comedy studio Kvartal 95 was highly successful in Ukraine and noughties Russia, during Vladimir Putin's first years in the Kremlin. Long before he went into politics, Zelenskyy was celebrated as an entertainer and actor. 'Without him we would have had Russian stuff,' Tymoshenko says. At some point, however, the studio developed a 'monopoly on humour', producing dozens of TV shows and films, including the drama Servant of the People. In it, Zelenskyy plays the president, a role that propelled him in 2019 to a real-life landslide election victory. 'They tried to be everywhere and it became bad,' Tymoshenko says. He prefers Zelenskyy as a wartime leader. 'It's cool to have a guy like him in power. You get pretty strong Black Mirror vibes. It's not normal but the world is not normal, so it fits,' he says. Tymoshenko describes his own style of humour as 'pretty dark'. He jokes about death: 'Some people lost nothing. Some people lost everything. The challenge is to find a direction that works for everyone. People are tired of war. You have to find an original way to make them laugh and to not depress them.' Svyat Zagaikavich, the founder of the Underground Standup club, began performing in 2012 in a flat and cafe. After Putin's annexation of Crimea two years later, the club moved to new central premises in a subterranean former Irish pub opposite the Golden Gate, a Kyiv landmark. In Zagaikavich's view, Ukrainian standup has come of age: 'It's really dark humour. There are a lot of jokes about dead Russians. Before, some comedians would show stupid people by talking in Ukrainian. Now they do it by speaking Russian. You joke and do everything in life like it's for the last time.' For those stressed by war, comedy has an important social function, he says. 'We get a lot of feedback, like, 'You saved me from my mental problems.' Earlier we thought we comedians were doing cool work. Now we have a mission. It's to stop people from going crazy,' he says. Zagaikavich presents Ukraine's version of the humorous British quizshow QI. Its ex-host Stephen Fry was in Kyiv in 2022 for a conference on mental health, invited by Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska. He visited the club and gave Zagaikavich a signed photo with the words: 'Stephen Fry died here.' On a Sunday in mid-July, 100 people came to Ukraine's QI show, which was recorded in a theatre on Kyiv's much-bombed left bank. 'It's like therapy for us. It brings us together. We're tired of being serious about the war. You need to relax and chill out,' one fan Angelina Gromova, says. Another, Anna Prudii, says she watched Russian comedy before dumping it in 2014 for Ukrainian acts. 'It has helped me a lot. It cheers me up. In the last three years it became very popular,' she says. About Zelenskyy, she was diplomatic: 'I watched his show with my parents. It's of its time.' Comedian Nastya Zukhvala says that when she began doing standup organisers would give one token slot to a female performer. Now comedy is more equal, she says: 'We have more masculine men, running around doing rat-tat-tat. At the same time there is a lot of work for women. Sexism isn't the most effective way of fighting.' Zukhvala, who is a regular QI panellist, says her feminist brand of comedy has become 'rougher' and more patriotic because of the war. 'It's about everyday life. Everyone who lives in such crazy times and who prefers to resist becomes funnier,' she says. She is one of a dozen comedians who have done international tours to raise money for Ukraine's army. Zukhvala visited the UK. It was a mixed experience: there was a low point in Glasgow, she says, when the owner of a fish and chip shop told her to go home and 'kill Putin'. Tymoshenko and Zukhvala have performed all across Ukraine, including in the southern frontline city of Kherson. Russian soldiers and drone operators are camped out just across the Dnipro River. 'The city is almost empty. It's a very intense feeling. It wasn't a standard show. There were a lot of old people,' she says. After three years in Kyiv, Tymoshenko says his parents have recently returned to their home village outside Nikopol, another frontline city under regular artillery and drone fire. He grew up there in the countryside 'playing with sticks', before moving to Kyiv to study political science. The authors he read – Plato and Aristotle – do not reflect the non-ideal world today, a place of 'brute power and money'. He believes there will not be much to laugh about when the war finally ends: 'I'm sure Ukraine will win and Russia will burn. But we've lost so many people. You can't imagine Victory Day as 'Wow!'.' In the meantime, he suggests things are looking up for Ukrainian female comedians. 'We will only have female ones because we men will all have died,' he says blackly. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage
