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Russia-Based Neo-Nazi Group Claims Responsibility for Killing of SBU Colonel in Kyiv
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The Ukrainian wing of the extremist network known as the Base has claimed responsibility for the July 10 killing of Colonel Ivan Voronych, a senior officer in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), marking the first acknowledged assassination carried out by the group on Ukrainian soil, as was reported by The Guardian on July 16.
In a communique posted on encrypted messaging channels on July 15, the group asserted it “neutralized” Voronych in Kyiv, accusing him of “orchestrating operations against our comrades in the Donbas.”
Ukrainian authorities confirmed the colonel was fatally shot outside his home in the Holosiivskyy district in the early hours of July 10 and have opened a counterterrorism investigation.
This admission represents a significant escalation by the Base, a network which originated in the US and has been linked to plots against law enforcement and military personnel in several countries.
Until now, the organization’s activities in Ukraine had consisted largely of online propaganda and recruitment efforts. SBU spokespeople have warned of further planned attacks and urged citizens to report any suspicious behavior.
The Base was founded in 2018, and in 2019 the FBI charged its members with plotting a race war. Nazzaro has lived in Saint Petersburg since at least 2012, when he married a Russian woman. Although many within the group believed he was connected to Russian intelligence services, he has consistently denied any such ties.
It took SBU three days of covert investigative and counter-intelligence measures to find and neutralize a two-person FSB agent-combat group responsible for the assassination. The operation was personally overseen by SBU Head Vasyl Malyuk.
According to Malyuk, “the FSB’s agent-combat group was routed into Ukraine in advance and three days ago carried out the murder of our comrade, Colonel Ivan Voronych.”
When SBU and National Police units moved in to detain the suspects at their Kyiv-region hideout, the assailants opened fire; both were killed in the ensuing exchange.
“I want to remind everyone that the only fate awaiting the enemy on Ukrainian soil is death,” Malyuk stated.
Earlier, a multinational law enforcement operation dismantled a pro-Russian hacker network attacking Ukraine and NATO, seizing encrypted servers and digital infrastructure used to coordinate cyber-espionage.
Investigators from Europe and North America arrested key organizers in Moscow and disrupted the online platforms that facilitated phishing campaigns against military and governmental targets.
