"LVIV - Crowds of mourners were packed into the baroque-rococo St. George's Cathedral in Lviv, western Ukraine, on September 1, for the funeral of former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy, who was gunned down in the city days earlier. The 54-year-old, who was still a lawmaker for the opposition European Solidarity party, was shot dead at around noon while walking along a city street on August 30."
"Stelnikov spoke to reporters before the hearing and said he had killed Parubiy, calling his actions "personal revenge against the Ukrainian authorities." He also stated that media reports that he was blackmailed by Russian special services were not true, and he had not worked for them. Stelnikov said he chose Parubiy as his victim because he "was nearby." He added that he hoped to be involved a prisoner exchange with Russia, so that he could search for his son's body there."
"Earlier, law enforcement sources told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that he had claimed he was in contact with individuals linked to Russia while searching for his missing soldier son. The sources said he began monitoring Russian social networks in 2023 after learning his son had gone missing in Ukraine's Bakhmut area where he had been fighting invading Russian forces. The man claimed that he then came into contact with unidentified Russian representatives who allegedly told him his son had been killed."
Former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy was killed in Lviv on August 30 while walking along a city street. Crowds of mourners attended his funeral at St. George's Cathedral on September 1. The suspected killer, 52-year-old Lviv resident Mykhailo Stelnikov, was ordered held in pretrial detention until October 30. Stelnikov told reporters he killed Parubiy as "personal revenge against the Ukrainian authorities," denied being blackmailed or working for Russian services, and said he chose Parubiy because he "was nearby." Law enforcement sources said Stelnikov searched Russian social networks seeking his missing soldier son and claimed contacts with unidentified Russian representatives who told him his son was killed. Parubiy played a prominent role in the 2013-2014 Maidan demonstrations.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]