Head of Ukraine's SBU in Kirovograd found dead

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Aug 2022 21:04

Oleksandr Nakonechny was found dead with gunshot wounds in his apartment.

Head of Ukraine's SBU in Kirovohrad Oblast, Oleksandr Nakonechny

A regional head of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence services has been found dead at his home in central Ukraine, the prosecutor general’s office said on Sunday.

Oleksandr Nakonechny was found by his wife with gunshot wounds in a room of their apartment in the city of Kropyvnytsky late Saturday after she heard gunfire, the office wrote on Telegram.

Police have opened an investigation into the death but made no further comments.

A local politician, Andrii Lavrus, wrote on Telegram that Nakonechny had shot himself. The information could not be immediately confirmed.

Nakonechny has headed the SBU in the Kirovograd region since January 2021.

In July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of the SBU, his childhood friend Ivan Bakanov, saying he did not do enough to rid the agency of what he called spies and collaborators.

Zelensky said there would be a revision of SBU personnel, and several senior officials at the agency have been fired over the past several months.

Earlier today, it was reported that Russian political commentator Darya Dugina was killed in a large explosion while driving on a highway in her father's car, 20km away from Moscow.

Preliminary reports suggest that a homemade explosive device may be involved, however, investigators have not yet confirmed it.

Following this incident, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that if the official investigation confirms any trace of Ukrainian involvement in Darya Dugina's assassination, then Kiev is deemed to have implemented a state terrorism policy.