Murdered SBU Colonel Voronych was involved in the liquidation of “Motorola” and the Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive in Kurshchyna: NYT
Colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Voronych, who was shot the other day in Kyiv, served in a special unit that participated in the offensive on the Kursk region of Russia in 2024. Previously, he headed the group that eliminated the pro-Russian militant Arseniy Pavlov, known under the pseudonym “Motorola”. About this informs New York Times.
Journalists of the publication spoke with Ukrainian officials and former colleagues of Voronich, who wished to remain anonymous. They said that the deceased was an officer of the “Alpha” Special Operations Center and had many years of experience in the SBU.
Voronych began his service in the mid-1990s. At various times, he headed the special operations unit known as the Fifth Directorate. This unit received technical support from the US CIA and was responsible for the elimination of one of the commanders of the militants of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic”, Arseniy Pavlov (“Motorola”).
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, Voronich was involved in the activities of an elite unit that operated in the so-called “gray zone” of the front. It was this unit, according to the NYT, that played a key role in the August offensive of Ukraine on the Kursk region in 2024.
The former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ivan Bakanov, who is personally familiar with Voronich, said that he had actively opposed Russian aggression since 2014:
“If the motive is a domestic murder, that’s one thing. But it could be a public execution carried out by the Russians, and that’s a completely different story, which will require a complex of immediate measures from the SBU.”
We will remind, on July 10, there was a shooting in the Holosiiv district of Kyiv. Former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi reported that the deceased was SBU colonel Ivan Voronych. According to him, the man was shot five times at close range when he was leaving his house.
The Security Service of Ukraine did not officially confirm the identity of the deceased, but stated that their employee was killed as a result of the shooting. Law enforcement officers opened criminal proceedings under Article 348 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (infringement on the life of a law enforcement officer, a member of a public formation for the protection of public order and the state border, or a military serviceman).
