A man Ukrainian police have detained in connection with the assassination of former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy has reportedly said he was in contact with Russian representatives prior to the fatal attack.
Law enforcement sources told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that the suspect confessed to the killing, which saw the ex-lawmaker gunned down on a street in Lviv over the weekend.
He also claimed he had been in contact with individuals linked to Russia while searching for his missing soldier son.
Earlier on September 1, police released photos of officers arresting an unidentified man but gave no further details.
It was unclear when or where exactly the arrest occurred or where, though police said the man allegedly was hiding in the Khmelnytskiy region, east of Lviv.
Surveillance video showed that Parubiy, 54, was approached by a gunman from the rear around noon on August 30 as he walked on Lviv’s Yefremova Street. Police said he died immediately from gunshot wounds.
"We know that this crime was not accidental. There is a Russian trace in it," national police chief Ivan Vyhyvskiy said. He did not elaborate.
According to the sources who spoke to RFE/RL, the suspect -- a 52-year-old Lviv resident -- said he began monitoring Russian social networks in 2023 after learning his son had gone missing in Ukraine's Bakhmut region 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.
The sources said the man claimed the Russians tried to justify Moscow’s war, blaming Kyiv for Moscow's unprovoked invasion, and encouraged him to act against Ukrainian officials.
Investigators are now checking these statements.
RFE/RL has not yet been able obtain an official statement from the suspect or his defense.
Parubiy played a prominent role in the Maidan demonstrations, which erupted in late 2013 when President Viktor Yanukovych opted to forego closer ties with the European Union and move closer to Russia. The protests culminated in violent clashes with police in February 2014, and Yanukovych fled the country.
Parubiy was also an important figure in earlier Orange Revolution in 2004, which began when Yanukovych was declared the winner of a disputed presidential election. His victory was ultimately overturned.
He served as speaker of the Verkhovna Rada between 2016 and 2019. In recent years, he served as a lawmaker in the political party of former President Petro Poroshenko.
Poroshenko blamed the killing on Russia.
“Whoever carried it out, the one who ordered it and the one who must bear responsibility is Putin,” he said in a statement.
