Kiev - (AFP) - A local official of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) was found dead in his home in central Ukraine, the Public Prosecutor's Office announced Sunday.

The Public Prosecutor's Office said via "Telegram" that late Saturday evening, Oleksandr Nakunichny's wife heard the sound of gunshots coming from their apartment in Kropivnitsky, before discovering her husband's body with a gunshot wound in one of the rooms.

The prosecution added that the police opened an investigation to find out the causes of death, without adding any comment about the hypotheses being studied by the investigators.

For his part, the elected local official, Andrei Lavros, confirmed on "Telegram" that the official killed himself by shooting himself in the head.
Nakunichny has been running the local office of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kirovograd region since January 2021.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked the head of the state security unit, Ivan Bakanov, in July, accusing him of not doing enough to fight spies and collaborators with Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February.

Zelensky then announced a "reconsideration of the administrative staff" of the Ukrainian Security Service, as several senior officials had been dismissed in recent months.