Ukraine’s main intelligence agency on Monday released images and video purportedly from the scene of the assassination of a former Ukrainian lawmaker who had defected to Russia.
Ilya Kiva, 46, was found shot dead outside Moscow last week, with multiple reports from anonymous Ukrainian sources suggesting that Kyiv had been behind the attack. On Monday, Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform published images seemingly captured before and after the attack—with one allegedly showing Kiva’s body.
Kiva, who had been a pro-Russia member of the Ukrainian parliament between 2019 and 2022, fled to Russia shortly before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. In Russia, he regularly criticized Ukrainian authorities on state television and called for Ukraine to surrender. A Kyiv court in November convicted Kiva of high treason and attempting to overthrow the government, sentencing him in absentia to 14 years in prison.
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On Dec. 6, Russian investigators said Kiva had been found dead in the park of a gated community in the Moscow suburb of Odintsovo. “[A]n unknown person fired shots at the victim from an unidentified weapon,” Russian authorities said in a statement, adding that Kiva “died on the spot from his injuries.”
In the images released on Monday—reportedly by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)—one allegedly shows Kiva lying face down in blood-stained snow. Another photo showed a knife, pistol, and binoculars at what Ukrinform described as the “assassination team’s observation post.” A video released along with the photographs shows the observation post in more detail and captures footage of a man walking in the distance—though it’s not clear if the man is Kiva. The state news agency report said Kiva’s daily movements, routines, and habits had been studied in detail before the hit was carried out.
“This is a signal to all traitors and war criminals who have flipped to the enemy side,” an SBU source said. “Remember: Russia will not protect you. As Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU, said earlier, death is the only prospect that awaits the enemies of Ukraine.”
The SBU also released an official statement on Monday, saying it “conducts many successful special operations, including those that bring deserved punishment to war criminals and enemies of Ukraine.”
“Also, Vasyl Malyuk repeatedly emphasized that the enemies of Ukraine will definitely be responsible for their crimes: both before God and before the Ukrainian people—according to the law and morally,” the statement added.” “The situation with the liquidation of Ilya Kiva only confirms these words.”
