Ukrainian Former Speaker Andriy Parubiy was shot dead on Saturday, August 30, causing shock nationwide. President Zelensky announced on Monday, September 1, that the police had arrested a suspect in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and obtained preliminary confessions.
In a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Monday morning, Zelensky said the police had arrested the assassin of the former speaker, “The suspect has given a preliminary statement, and relevant investigative actions are being urgently carried out to clarify all the circumstances of this murder.”
Zelensky stated, “Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Security Service Director Vasyl Maliuk just reported that the suspect in the murder of former speaker Andriy Parubiy has been captured. Necessary investigative actions are still ongoing. I have instructed to release the existing information to the public. I appreciate the swift and orderly action of law enforcement agencies. All details of this heinous murder case must be clarified.”
Parubiy, 54, was shot dead in the western city of Lviv. He served as a member of the Ukrainian parliament and was the speaker from April 2016 to August 2019. He was also one of the pro-European protest leaders who called for closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union from 2013 to 2014. Additionally, he had served as the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
Zelensky described the incident as “alarming” and pointed out that it involves “security issues of a country at war.”
Interior Minister Klymenko announced on Telegram that the suspect was apprehended on Sunday, August 31, evening. Klymenko stated, “Many details cannot be disclosed to the public at this time. All I can say is that this criminal act was meticulously planned: the suspect surveilled the victim’s daily activities, planned the crime route, and designed an escape plan.”
(This article references reports from Reuters and Bloomberg)