‘A serious enemy’: Chervinskyi on killings of Parubiy and SBU Colonel Voronych

“This is the work of Russian intelligence services, that’s clear. It shows they’re operating actively — this is a serious enemy,” Chervinskyi said of Voronych’s July 10 assassination.

He stressed that to prevent such incidents, “all countermeasures must be activated, forming an entire system to protect Ukraine — one that constantly searches, including among those arriving in Ukraine, at entry channels, and in places where such people live.” That work, he reminded, is organized and overseen by counterintelligence.

Chervinskyi also criticized the recent decoration of SBU Deputy Head Oleksandr Poklad, who led the agency’s Counterintelligence Department from 2021 to 2023 before his promotion.

“As you know, [MP] Andriy Parubiy was also killed by a hired gun. And on the same day Parubiy was posthumously named Hero of Ukraine, the same title was given to [Oleksandr] Poklad — the head of Ukraine’s counterintelligence, who, in principle, was responsible for ensuring this didn’t happen. So there’s symbolism in all this. Counterintelligence isn’t working, and on the same day as the murder victim, the counterintelligence officer who was supposed to protect him is honored. And he’s being rewarded for bringing from Dubai [Opposition Platform—For Life MP Fedir] Khrystenko, who supposedly is a Russian spy,” Chervinskyi said.

He admitted that the two killings are deeply personal for him. “Ivan Voronych was my friend. And Andriy Parubiy was someone I was ready to look up to, because he was a true patriot — he went through all the Maidans and truly embodied the national idea.”

Killing of SBU Colonel Ivan Voronych — the key facts

On July 10, an officer of Ukraine’s SBU Security Service was shot dead in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district. The victim was identified as SBU Colonel Ivan Voronych. Around 9 a.m., a man approached him and fired five aimed shots from a handgun before fleeing the scene.

Voronych sustained multiple penetrating gunshot wounds and died on the spot.

On July 13, SBU Chief Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk said that during a special operation, SBU officers eliminated two Russian intelligence agents — a man and a woman — who, acting on orders from Russia’s FSB, carried out Voronych’s assassination.

“As a result of covert surveillance and active counterintelligence measures, the enemy hideout was discovered. When the agents resisted during arrest, a firefight broke out — and the scoundrels were neutralized,” Maliuk reported.