Ukraine claims 'Russian trace' possible in assassination of politician Andriy Parubiy

A suspect in the fatal shooting of prominent Ukrainian politician and a former speaker of the parliament Andriy Parubiy has been detained, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday.

"The suspect has given an initial testimony. Urgent investigative actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of this murder," Zelenskyy said on X.

“Urgent investigative actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of this murder. The entire law enforcement team and the prosecutors are working around the clock,” he explained.

Head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in the Lviv region Vadym Onyshchenko said, “The crime has signs of being a contract killing.”

“There is operational information indicating the possible involvement of the Russian Federation's special services in organising the murder.”

‘Russian trace’

Parubiy, a Ukrainian politician who previously served as the parliament speaker, was shot dead in Lviv on Saturday.

During a press briefing in Lviv, police officials said that Parubiy was shot eight times with a short-barrelled firearm. Seven shell casings were found at the crime scene.

An assailant was disguised as a courier, and a nationwide manhunt was launched immediately.

The Prosecutor General's Office said a 52-year-old resident of Lviv was charged with Parubiy’s murder.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that a suspect was apprehended in the Khmelnytskyi region.

Ukrainian police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi also said the crime was not “random" and had "a Russian trace."

Vyhivskyi shared more details on Facebook, saying the suspect spent a long time “long time preparing, watching, planning, and finally pulling the trigger.”

“Disguised as a courier, he opened fire on (Parubiy) in broad daylight. Eight shots. Cold-blooded cruelty. He even made sure that the victim was dead," Vyhivskyi wrote.

"Then he tried to cover his tracks — he changed his clothes, got rid of the weapon, and tried to hide in the Khmelnytskyi region."

Law enforcement authorities said they are investigating whether Parubiy received threats before his death.

Who was Andriy Parubiy?

Parubiy was a well-known activist and a prominent Ukrainian politician.

He first became a member of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, in 2007 and gained prominence during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, known as EuroMaidan, in 2014.

Parubiy led the volunteer self-defence groups during the nationwide protests, which called for closer ties with the European Union, ultimately leading to the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

After Yanukovych fled to Russia, Parubiy served as secretary of the National Security and Defence Council from February to August 2014, at a time when Russia first invaded Ukraine, annexed Crimea and started the war in eastern regions of the country.

Parubiy then served as the first deputy parliament speaker between 2014 and 2016 and as the parliament speaker from 2016 until 2019.

Since 2019, he was a lawmaker for ex-President Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity party.

Parubiy was a prominent advocate for the 2019 law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language”, which made him a target of Russian state propaganda and disinformation campaigns.