Ex-Ukrainian Speaker Andriy Parubiy Shot Dead In Lviv— Reports

Ex-Ukrainian Speaker Andriy Parubiy Shot Dead In Lviv— Reports

Andriy Parubiy, a former Ukrainian parliamentary speaker and prominent leader of the country’s pro-European protest movements in 2004 and 2014 was shot dead on Saturday in western Ukraine, officials confirmed.

Parubiy, 54, who also once served as secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, was killed in the city of Lviv.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the killing as a “horrific murder,” vowing that “all necessary forces and means” would be deployed to bring the perpetrator to justice.

“Unfortunately, the crime was carefully planned,” he said on social media.

Police said the gunman remains at large, while prosecutors have launched a murder investigation without disclosing potential motives.

“An unidentified man fired several shots at the politician, killing Andriy Parubiy on the spot,” the prosecutor general’s office said.

According to Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne, citing anonymous sources, the attacker was disguised as a delivery rider and used an electric bike to flee the scene.

Local media circulated photos allegedly showing the aftermath of the shooting, depicting a man with a bloodied face lying on the street, though their authenticity has not been independently confirmed.

Tributes from Ukrainian officials highlighted Parubiy’s political influence and hinted at suspicions of Russian involvement.

Ex-president Petro Poroshenko, who succeeded Yanukovych, paid tribute to a “brother-in-arms” and said his murder was “a shot at the heart of Ukraine”.

“The enemy will never be able to kill the ideals for which Andriy Parubiy lived and fought,” he said.

A prominent activist in the Maidan protests, Mustafa Nayem remembered Parubiy as “open and able to talk to people on equal terms”.

“Andriy always retained his humanity, which was remarkable for someone of his political standing,” Nayem told AFP.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the assassinations of political and military figures.

Russian state media reported that Parubiy had been on Moscow’s wanted list since 2023.