A senior Ukrainian intelligence officer has been gunned down in broad daylight in Kyiv, officials have said, BBC reported.

The agent of the domestic Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was shot several times in a car park after being approached by an unidentified assailant who then fled the scene, footage circulated on social media shows.

The spy agency did not identify the victim, though Ukrainian media outlets have named him as Colonel Ivan Voronych.

The SBU is primarily concerned with internal security and counter-intelligence, akin to the UK's MI5. But since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, it has also played a prominent role in assassinations and sabotage attacks deep inside Russia, according to BBC.