Former parliamentary leader of Ukraine met with fatal gunshot wounds in Lviv
Former Ukrainian Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Andriy Parubiy, a prominent Ukrainian politician and leader of the Maidan protests in 2013-14, was shot dead in the western city of Lviv on Saturday. The gunman approached Parubiy on foot, as captured in a video broadcast on state TV.
Born in 1971 in the Lviv region, Parubiy was known for his nationalist activism since the late 1980s. He co-founded the Social-National Party of Ukraine in 1991 and served as a member of parliament from 2007. From 2016 to 2019, he served as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament), and as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council in 2014, leading Ukraineβs initial response to the Russo-Ukrainian War and commanding Maidan self-defense during Euromaidan.
Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi stated that Parubiy died from gunshot wounds before medics arrived. The gunman was disguised as a food delivery worker, wearing a helmet that concealed his face, and carrying a yellow insulated bag. As of the report, Parubiy had left his home and was heading to a nearby gym that he attended regularly.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the shooting a "horrendous murder." The police, the state security service, and prosecutors are chasing several leads, including potential involvement by Russia. The police chief in Lviv region, Oleksandr Shlyakhovskyi, stated that the crime was "very thoroughly planned."
Parubiy was speaker when lawmakers pushed through various reforms aimed at bringing Ukraine closer to the European Union. Those reforms included anti-graft reforms that weren't always easy to get through parliament, and his firm guidance was helpful, according to former colleagues. He became the speaker of the parliament in 2016 and was re-elected to the legislature in 2019.
Over 100 people were estimated to have been killed by pro-Russian government forces during the demonstrations that Parubiy led in 2014, which resulted in the ouster of the Russian-backed former President Viktor Yanukovych. Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea weeks later. The military conflict in eastern Ukraine was triggered by the annexation and expanded into Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Law enforcement officers are establishing the circumstances of the killing, according to Ukraine's Interior Ministry. The shooting occurred on Saturday, and the investigation is ongoing.
