Ukrainian Security Service Officer Shot Dead in Kyiv Parking Lot

‘A criminal investigation has been opened into the murder of an SBU employee,’ the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement.

Footage reportedly shows a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer just before he was shot in Kyiv on July 10, 2025. Ukrainska Pravda/via Reuters

A Ukrainian security officer was fatally shot in Kyiv on Thursday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.

Footage of the incident shared online showed the man, dressed in casual civilian clothing, leaving an apartment block and walking to a parking lot.

He was then approached by a gunman, who shot him repeatedly before fleeing on foot. The Epoch Times was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

“A criminal investigation has been opened into the murder of an [SBU] employee in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district. The Security Service and the National Police are taking comprehensive measures to establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring those responsible to justice,” the SBU press service said in a statement, according to Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

“A pre-trial investigation is ongoing under Article 348 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer, member of a public formation for the protection of public order and state borders, or military personnel).”

The SBU did not identify the victim in the statement.

On Thursday, Kyiv’s police force said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that its officers were establishing the circumstances of a shooting in the Holosiivskyi district.

“Responding to a call, law enforcement officers discovered the body of a man with a gunshot wound,” police said in the statement. “At present, investigative teams from the district and main police departments, criminal investigators, canine units, and other services are working at the scene. All circumstances of the incident are currently being established.”

In a subsequent post, the force added that the “identity of the person involved in the crime is being established, and measures are being taken to detain them.”

Neither the SBU nor the police gave any indication of possible motives for the shooting.

Alexander Kots, a war reporter for Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, said that if the reports are true, it was a “good sign,” and alleged that the victim was “directly involved in organizing terrorist attacks in Russia.”

“I have always said that strikes on Bankova Street or the SBU building are completely pointless. Why fight with bricks? The blows should be directed not at decision-making centers, but at the individuals making those decisions,” Kots stated in a post on Telegram. “The enemy must feel fear on their own turf. There should be no safe places for them.”

Kots is listed by Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor as an approved journalist whose writings are permitted to be disseminated by other officially licensed outlets in the country.

He has been sanctioned by several countries, including Canada, Australia, the UK, Switzerland, France, and Belgium, as well as the European Union, according to online database Open Sanctions.

Moscow has not yet commented publicly on the incident.

The shooting comes at a time of escalating violence between Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Russia launched a record-breaking 728 drones, as well as 13 missiles, at Ukraine, breaking the previous record barrage, which occurred on July 4, when Ukraine stated that 539 drones and 11 missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

At the time, Moscow made no statement about the barrage against Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that three people were killed and seven wounded in a Ukrainian attack on a beach in the city of Kursk, Russia, on July 8. Another two people were injured in a drone attack “on the central district hospital, an ambulance service building and the administrative building of an agricultural company,” according to TASS.

The Epoch Times contacted the SBU for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.