‘Liquidated': Ukraine kills Russian agents blamed for assassination
CCTV footage showed a man dressed in black and wearing a mask running toward the Ukrainian officer as he walked from his apartment to his car, shooting him several times.
Voronych was part of an elite unit that conducted 'grey zone' operations against the Russians behind enemy lines, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
While the SBU did not say how many FSB agents were involved, it released a video showing two bodies.
The latest operations follow Ukraine's success on June 1 in sending agents into Russia over an 18-month period to target air bases from civilian trucks carrying drones.
Known as Operation Spider Web, this led to serious damage to five Russian air bases on June 1.
In April, a car bomb killed Russian general Yaroslav Moskalik in Moscow, in what Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described as terrorism. Russian authorities later that month arrested a 42-year-old Russian national who had previously lived in Ukraine, charging him with planting the bomb.
In a similar attack last December, an explosion from an electric scooter killed Russian general Igor Kirillov in Moscow, one day after the SBU had publicly blamed him for authorising the use of chemical weapons in the war. The SBU took responsibility for the assassination.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week welcomed 'good signals' from the US about the restoration of weapon deliveries, after the Pentagon froze shipments and Trump denied knowing who had ordered the freeze.
Zelensky said on Sunday that Russian forces had attacked Ukraine with more than 1800 drones, 1200 guided aerial bombs and 83 missiles over the past week.
'The Russians are intensifying terror against cities and communities to increasingly intimidate our people,' he said.
Trump signalled last Thursday that he would make a major statement on the war on Monday, and he confirmed the US would send weapons to Europe so they could be supplied to Ukraine and paid for by European NATO members.
'I think I'll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,' he told NBC.
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9 News
29 minutes ago
- 9 News
Trump threatens Russia and boosts weapons for Ukraine
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here US President Donald Trump has threatened Russia with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance towards Moscow after months of frustration about unsuccessful negotiations for ending the war . The latest steps reflect an evolving approach from the Republican president, who promised to swiftly resolve the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he invaded Ukraine three years ago. Trump once focused his criticism on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he described as unwilling to compromise, but more recently has expressed growing irritation toward Putin. "My conversations with him are very pleasant, and then the missiles go off at night," Trump said. He complained that "it just keeps going on and on and on." US President Donald Trump has unveiled a new weapons pipeline to Ukraine. (AP) Trump said he would implement "severe tariffs" unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days. He provided few details on how they would be implemented, but he described them as secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy. In addition, Trump said European allies would buy "billions and billions" of dollars of US military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine, replenishing the besieged country's supplies of weapons. He made the announcement in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Included in the plan are Patriot air defence systems, a top priority for Ukraine as it fends off Russian drones and missiles. Trump with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House. (AP) Doubts were recently raised about Trump's commitment to supply Ukraine when the Pentagon paused shipments over concerns that US stockpiles were running low. Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine. He said "speed is of the essence here," and he suggested that some weapons would be rushed to Ukraine and later replaced with purchases from the US. Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and he repeatedly asserted that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. He also accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections". But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to "STOP!" launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader "has gone absolutely CRAZY!". While Rutte was in Washington, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg pose for a photo in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP) Zelenskyy said he had "a productive conversation" with Kellogg about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin. "We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force," Zelenskyy said on Telegram. Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said. At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000km front line. Trump confirmed the US is sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and that the European Union will pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry. Trump is reportedly growing frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) A senior Russian lawmaker, Konstantin Kosachev, said Trump's plan had "only one beneficiary – the US military-industrial complex." Germany has offered to finance two Patriot systems, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Monday in Berlin. The country has already given three of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was traveling to Washington on Monday to meet US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. A top ally of Trump, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict was nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. Although Trump had previously dismissed the effort as a waste of US taxpayer money, Graham told CBS' Face the Nation that "you'll see weapons flowing at a record level." "One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump," he said. "And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table." Firefighters work at a destroyed apartment building after a Russian drone and missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment who took part in talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington. "Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure," Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. "This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means." Although Trump proposed targeting Russia with new tariffs, he expressed doubts about bipartisan legislation to punish the country even further. "I'm not sure we need it," he said. "It could be very useful. We'll have to see." The legislation increases sanctions and places 500 per cent tariffs on products imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas and other exports. Trump on Monday proposed unilaterally implementing 100 per cent tariffs. "I use trade for a lot of things," he said. "But it's great for settling wars." Since December 5, 2022, when the European Union banned Russian oil, China has bought 47 per cent of Russia's crude oil exports, followed by India at 38 per cent. Turkey and the EU have each accounted for 6 per cent, according to the Centre for Research and Clean Air, a Finnish nonprofit that tracks the energy industry. Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow in China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, doubted that tariffs would change the course of the war. "Oil is fungible, and Russia has developed a nimble shadow fleet," he said. "So enforcement would be a challenge.'' However, the tariffs could still have a dramatic effect, depending on how they're implemented. Adding a 100 per cent tariff on China, on top of import taxes already in place, would essentially halt trade between the US and China, the world's two largest economies. CONTACT US
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
US pledges to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine in funding deal
The move reflects the growing impatience in the White House with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump announces US will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine, says Putin ‘talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening'
The US will ship Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine in its fight against Russia because Vladimir Putin 'talks nice but then bombs everybody in the evening,' President Trump said Sunday. Although Trump did not get into specifics about how many missiles he would send, he reassured American citizens that the European Union would pick up the tab and reimburse the US for the associated costs. Trump's frustration with the Russian dictator has grown more and more recently as his efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia have been derailed and attempts at a ceasefire have gone nowhere. 'A lot of people are dying and it should end,' the president told reporters during a Cabinet meeting last week. 'We get a lot of b******* thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked for more defensive capabilities to fend off a daily barrage of missile and drone attacks from Russia. The country has been the subject of four major Russian assaults this month alone. At least 13 Ukrainian civilians were killed Saturday when Russia unleashed hundreds of drones and missiles – including so-called 'kamikaze drones,' Ukraine's air force said. The attacks struck western cities which until recently were considered safe from Russian reach. The Kremlin' onslaught included 623 drones and 26 missiles, including 319 Iranian-made Shahed drones. In response, Trump said he is going to ship the Patriots to aid in Ukraine's defense. 'We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there's a little bit of a problem there. I don't like it,' Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington. The commander in chief plans on meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine along with other pressing issues this week. 'We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100% for that, and that's the way we want it,' Trump said. Originally published as Donald Trump announces US will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine, says Putin 'talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening'
