Ukraine said on Monday that it had arrested a suspect in the murder of a former Ukrainian parliamentary speaker, accusing Moscow of involvement in one of the most high-profile killings since the war began.
“We know that this crime was not accidental. There is a Russian trace in it,” Ukraine’s police chief, Ivan Vyhivskyi, said in a statement that included a blurred photo of the suspect taken during his arrest. The police did not identify him or disclose a motive, and they did not explain or provide evidence for why they believed he was linked to Russia.
Mr. Vyhivskyi said the suspect had carefully prepared the attack, disguising himself as a delivery worker before opening fire on the Ukrainian politician, Andriy Parubiy, in broad daylight on a street in the western city of Lviv. “Eight shots. Coldblooded cruelty,” Mr. Vyhivskyi said.
After the attack, the statement added, the suspect “changed clothes, got rid of the weapon” and hid in the western Khmelnytskyi region, which borders the Lviv region. He was found by the police after a 36- hour manhunt.
President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the arrest and said that “all circumstances of this terrible murder must be clarified.”
The killing on Saturday of Mr. Parubiy, who still served as a lawmaker in Ukraine’s main opposition party, sent chills through the country, where political assassinations have been rare since Russia invaded more than three years ago. It echoed the murder of another politician, Iryna Farion, in Lviv last year in similar circumstances.
Both Mr. Parubiy and Ms. Farion had publicly held strong nationalist and anti-Russian views, advocating a complete severing of ties with Moscow. That has fueled suspicion that their killings were orchestrated by Russia.
In particular, Mr. Parubiy played a prominent role in the 2014 Maidan protests that led to the ouster of Ukraine’s last pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. Mr. Parubiy led the protesters’ security forces, which battled with Ukraine’s riot police, a role that earned him broad respect at home but drew the ire of pro-Kremlin figures.
Mr. Parubiy went on to serve as secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council in the first half of 2014, after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and launched its first invasion of eastern Ukraine. He served as the speaker of Parliament from 2016 to 2019.
Ukrainian political leaders publicly mourned Mr. Parubiy’s death over the weekend, depicting him as a crucial figure in Ukraine’s effort to break away from Moscow’s influence. He will be buried in Lviv on Tuesday, and memorials were to be held in his honor on Monday in Lviv and in Kyiv, the capital.
Constant Méheut reports on the war in Ukraine, including battlefield developments, attacks on civilian centers and how the war is affecting its people.
The post Kyiv Links Moscow to Killing of Former Ukrainian Parliament Speaker appeared first on New York Times.
