Ukrainian law enforcement authorities claimed on Monday that a man arrested over the killing of former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy was connected to Russia.
Parubiy, a leading figure in Ukraine’s pro-European protest movements of 2004 and 2014, was shot dead on Saturday in the western city of Lviv. Police said the suspected gunman, whose arrest was announced early Monday, fired at the ex-speaker eight times in broad daylight before fleeing the area.
“We know this crime was not random. There is a Russian trace to it. Everyone involved will face justice,” Ukrainian police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said in a statement posted on Telegram.
Vyhivskyi shared a photo from the scene of the arrest, showing a shirtless man being handcuffed by security agents in a bedroom.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and security service chief Vasyl Maliuk had informed him of the arrest.
“The necessary investigative actions are ongoing,” Zelensky wrote on social media. “I thank our law enforcement officers for their prompt and coordinated work.”
After speaking with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, the president said the suspected gunman had given “an initial testimony.”
Klymenko said the operation to arrest the man in the Khmelnytsky region involved dozens of officers. He called the murder of Parubiy “carefully planned,” citing surveillance of the ex-speaker’s movements and an escape plan.
AFP contributed reporting.
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