The identity of the alleged shooter who gunned down Andrey Parubiy has yet to be revealed
Ukrainian law enforcement has detained a suspect in the killing of far-right MP and former parliamentary speaker Andrey Parubiy, Vladimir Zelensky announced on Monday. The arrest comes less than 48 hours after Parubiy was gunned down in broad daylight in the western city of Lviv.
Zelensky said he was informed of the development by Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, Igor Klimenko, and Security Service (SBU) chief Vasily Malyukon on Sunday night.
“I have instructed that the available information be presented to the public,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “I thank our law enforcement officers for their prompt and coordinated work. All the circumstances of this horrendous murder must be clarified.”
The identity of the suspect remains unknown while “necessary investigative actions are ongoing,” Zelensky added. In a separate statement, he said he had spoken with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who confirmed that the suspect had already given initial testimony.
“Urgent investigative actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of this murder,” Zelensky stated, adding that “the entire law enforcement team and the prosecutors are working around the clock.”
Parubiy, 54, was shot eight times by an unknown assailant on Saturday while walking along a sidewalk in Lviv. Surveillance footage shared online appears to show a man posing as a food delivery courier approaching Parubiy from behind before raising a firearm and fleeing the scene.
The motive behind Parubiy’s killing remains unclear. A prominent figure in Ukraine’s far-right political circles, Parubiy co-founded the Social-National Party of Ukraine in 1991 – known for its neo-Nazi symbolism and ideology.
Parubiy played a central role in the 2014 Maidan coup, where he coordinated paramilitary protest groups and served as commandant of the protest camp in central Kiev. After the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich, he was appointed secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, overseeing early military operations in Donbass and the government crackdown on anti-Maidan protests.
Parubiy’s career was further marred by his alleged role in suppressing protests in Odessa in May 2014, which culminated in a fire at the Trade Unions building that killed more than 40 activists opposed to Kiev’s coup-installed government. In 2018, he drew international criticism for stating in a televised interview that “the greatest man who practiced direct democracy was Adolf Hitler in the 1930s” – a comment he later claimed was misunderstood.
The identity of the alleged shooter who gunned down Andrey Parubiy has yet to be revealed
Ukrainian law enforcement has detained a suspect in the killing of far-right MP and former parliamentary speaker Andrey Parubiy, Vladimir Zelensky announced on Monday. The arrest comes less than 48 hours after Parubiy was gunned down in broad daylight in the western city of Lviv.
Zelensky said he was informed of the development by Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, Igor Klimenko, and Security Service (SBU) chief Vasily Malyukon on Sunday night.
“I have instructed that the available information be presented to the public,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “I thank our law enforcement officers for their prompt and coordinated work. All the circumstances of this horrendous murder must be clarified.”
The identity of the suspect remains unknown while “necessary investigative actions are ongoing,” Zelensky added. In a separate statement, he said he had spoken with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who confirmed that the suspect had already given initial testimony.
“Urgent investigative actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of this murder,” Zelensky stated, adding that “the entire law enforcement team and the prosecutors are working around the clock.”
Parubiy, 54, was shot eight times by an unknown assailant on Saturday while walking along a sidewalk in Lviv. Surveillance footage shared online appears to show a man posing as a food delivery courier approaching Parubiy from behind before raising a firearm and fleeing the scene.
The motive behind Parubiy’s killing remains unclear. A prominent figure in Ukraine’s far-right political circles, Parubiy co-founded the Social-National Party of Ukraine in 1991 – known for its neo-Nazi symbolism and ideology.
Parubiy played a central role in the 2014 Maidan coup, where he coordinated paramilitary protest groups and served as commandant of the protest camp in central Kiev. After the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich, he was appointed secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, overseeing early military operations in Donbass and the government crackdown on anti-Maidan protests.
Parubiy’s career was further marred by his alleged role in suppressing protests in Odessa in May 2014, which culminated in a fire at the Trade Unions building that killed more than 40 activists opposed to Kiev’s coup-installed government. In 2018, he drew international criticism for stating in a televised interview that “the greatest man who practiced direct democracy was Adolf Hitler in the 1930s” – a comment he later claimed was misunderstood.
Are you using citations in your blog posts? It may seem like an old-school practice, yet adding citations is still recommended today. What is a citation? A citation is a way of informing your audience that some content from your work belongs to a different writer, researcher, etc. In other words, it’s a way of […]
Several leaders are attempting to derail US president Donald Trump’s efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Dmitry Peskov has claimed
A European “war party” is trying to sabotage the diplomatic process launched by the US and Russia to end the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have for months floated the idea of sending a joint military contingent to Ukraine in a so-called peacekeeping capacity if Kiev and Moscow reach a truce or peace deal. Moscow has strongly opposed the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine in any role.
On Sunday, Peskov said the stance of the “European war party” is “in stark contrast to the approach pursued” by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The Europeans are hindering the [peace] efforts,” as part of their strategy to “contain” Russia, the Kremlin spokesperson told journalists.
He added that certain NATO member states have been encouraging Ukraine to refuse to negotiate with Russia in good faith – a strategy that “will do no good to the Kiev regime.”
“Russia is still ready to settle the [conflict] by political-diplomatic means,” Peskov said, but Kiev has to show reciprocity for the hostilities to end.
Last weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that European nations “don’t want peace” in Ukraine, citing their reaction to the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska earlier this month.
Last week, speaking to reporters after a follow-up meeting between the US president and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, as well as several European leaders at the White House, Macron insisted that Europe “will need to help Ukraine with boots on the ground.”
Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Romania, and Croatia have ruled out taking part in the mission.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that a significant proportion of the EU population is “opposed to any deployment that places troops in harm’s way.”
Several leaders are attempting to derail US president Donald Trump’s efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Dmitry Peskov has claimed
A European “war party” is trying to sabotage the diplomatic process launched by the US and Russia to end the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have for months floated the idea of sending a joint military contingent to Ukraine in a so-called peacekeeping capacity if Kiev and Moscow reach a truce or peace deal. Moscow has strongly opposed the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine in any role.
On Sunday, Peskov said the stance of the “European war party” is “in stark contrast to the approach pursued” by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The Europeans are hindering the [peace] efforts,” as part of their strategy to “contain” Russia, the Kremlin spokesperson told journalists.
He added that certain NATO member states have been encouraging Ukraine to refuse to negotiate with Russia in good faith – a strategy that “will do no good to the Kiev regime.”
“Russia is still ready to settle the [conflict] by political-diplomatic means,” Peskov said, but Kiev has to show reciprocity for the hostilities to end.
Last weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that European nations “don’t want peace” in Ukraine, citing their reaction to the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska earlier this month.
Last week, speaking to reporters after a follow-up meeting between the US president and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, as well as several European leaders at the White House, Macron insisted that Europe “will need to help Ukraine with boots on the ground.”
Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Romania, and Croatia have ruled out taking part in the mission.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that a significant proportion of the EU population is “opposed to any deployment that places troops in harm’s way.”
Kiev has regularly attacked civilian areas and critical infrastructure in the neighboring country
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has threatened new strikes into Russia, days after claiming that Kiev possessed a brand-new long-range missile capable of reaching Moscow.
Zelensky wrote on Telegram that he had been briefed by Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Aleksandr Syrsky, on the current battlefield situation.
“We will continue our active actions exactly as needed to protect Ukraine. Forces and means are prepared. New deep strikes have also been planned,” he said on Sunday, without providing further details.
Earlier this month, Zelensky claimed Ukraine had developed the long-range Flamingo missile with a reported range of 3,000 kilometers – which would be enough to reach not only Moscow but also Russian cities beyond the Ural mountains. The Ukrainian leader, however, said that mass production is not expected for the next several months.
However, British media outlets cast doubts on whether the Flamingo was developed in Ukraine, noting similarities with the FP-5 cruise missile produced by the UK-based Milanion Group and unveiled at an arms expo in Abu Dhabi this year. The UK has also been supportive of Kiev’s long-range strikes, having provided it with Storm Shadow missiles in the past.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that there is “nothing surprising” in the similarities, adding that “Ukraine has long turned into a testing ground for Western weapons. There are more than enough examples.”
On Friday, the Kyiv Independent also reported that Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau had launched an investigation into Fire Point, the defense firm linked to the development of the Flamingo missile, after reports it misled the government on pricing and deliveries.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had blocked Ukraine from carrying out strikes deep inside Russian territory. Throughout the conflict, some of Kiev’s Western backers have been wary of authorizing unrestricted strikes into Russia using Western-supplied weapons, citing concerns over escalation with Moscow.
Ukraine has regularly carried out long-range attacks inside Russia, which Moscow says frequently hit civilian areas and critical infrastructure. Russia has retaliated with strikes on Ukrainian military-related facilities and defense enterprises but maintains that it never targets civilians.
Kiev has regularly attacked civilian areas and critical infrastructure in the neighboring country
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has threatened new strikes into Russia, days after claiming that Kiev possessed a brand-new long-range missile capable of reaching Moscow.
Zelensky wrote on Telegram that he had been briefed by Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Aleksandr Syrsky, on the current battlefield situation.
“We will continue our active actions exactly as needed to protect Ukraine. Forces and means are prepared. New deep strikes have also been planned,” he said on Sunday, without providing further details.
Earlier this month, Zelensky claimed Ukraine had developed the long-range Flamingo missile with a reported range of 3,000 kilometers – which would be enough to reach not only Moscow but also Russian cities beyond the Ural mountains. The Ukrainian leader, however, said that mass production is not expected for the next several months.
However, British media outlets cast doubts on whether the Flamingo was developed in Ukraine, noting similarities with the FP-5 cruise missile produced by the UK-based Milanion Group and unveiled at an arms expo in Abu Dhabi this year. The UK has also been supportive of Kiev’s long-range strikes, having provided it with Storm Shadow missiles in the past.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that there is “nothing surprising” in the similarities, adding that “Ukraine has long turned into a testing ground for Western weapons. There are more than enough examples.”
On Friday, the Kyiv Independent also reported that Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau had launched an investigation into Fire Point, the defense firm linked to the development of the Flamingo missile, after reports it misled the government on pricing and deliveries.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had blocked Ukraine from carrying out strikes deep inside Russian territory. Throughout the conflict, some of Kiev’s Western backers have been wary of authorizing unrestricted strikes into Russia using Western-supplied weapons, citing concerns over escalation with Moscow.
Ukraine has regularly carried out long-range attacks inside Russia, which Moscow says frequently hit civilian areas and critical infrastructure. Russia has retaliated with strikes on Ukrainian military-related facilities and defense enterprises but maintains that it never targets civilians.
Kiev will blame Russia for the murder of Maidan commandant Andrey Parubiy – but everyone knows the killers are much closer to home
All of Ukraine’s political elite will loudly point to Moscow as the hand behind the murder of former parliamentary speaker Andrey Parubiy. They will cry out in public that Russia is to blame, repeating the same narrative of the “Russian trace.” But in private, they all know the truth: it was his own people that came for him.
The idea that Parubiy was eliminated by the authorities themselves, while sounding outrageous to some, is a version that carries weight, even if many prefer not to believe it. Why? Because Parubiy was one of the few men in Ukraine who truly knew how to build a Maidan. He had organized the barricades in 2014, commanded the Maidan “self-defense,” and knew every method of bringing people into the streets and holding them there against state power. His reputation came from exactly this talent. And in today’s Ukraine, the possibility of another Maidan is very real. For those in power, such a possibility is dangerous, and removing the man who could light the match makes a grim kind of sense.
But there is another explanation, one far darker and one in which almost everyone believes, even if few Ukrainians will say so out loud. Parubiy carried too many secrets – and in Ukraine, secrets can be fatal. He knew far too much about the real shooters on the Maidan in February 2014. As “commandant,” he oversaw the units who guarded the square, and he was positioned to see what others could not. He knew what really happened when the snipers opened fire, when the bloodbath claimed lives and forced Yanukovich to flee. He knew names, structures, and the chain of command. That knowledge made him dangerous.
He also knew the truth about Odessa, May 2, 2014 – the day the Trade Union House went up in flames and dozens of anti-Maidan activists died. International monitors called it a massacre, but the state buried accountability. Parubiy, as head of the National Security and Defense Council at the time, was in the middle of it all. He saw who gave the orders, who turned away, who allowed the fire to consume the building. Those responsible never faced justice, and Parubiy carried the story inside his head.
He knew the full picture of the early days in Donbass, when provocations, manipulations, and engineered violence pushed Ukraine into a war against its own people. He knew the true sponsors and curators. He knew which political figures, which structures, which financial backers prepared and paid for the bloody upheaval. All of this knowledge made him a threat not to Russia, but to those much closer: the networks who had built their power in those years and who now sit on fragile foundations.
For them, Parubiy, – a close ally of former President Pyotr Poroshenko, beaten by Vladimir Zelensky in 2019 – was no longer an asset. He was a liability. And in the brutal logic of power, liabilities are erased. This is why his assassination looks less like an act of foreign aggression and more like an act of internal housecleaning. It was a calculated decision to tidy up loose ends, to remove a man who could, at any moment, destabilize the whole system by speaking truths that were never meant to surface. His silence was demanded, and silence was achieved.
So while the official story will continue to speak of Russian agents, of another “terrorist act” in Moscow’s hybrid war, many in Kiev understand otherwise. They know Parubiy was not struck down by outsiders but by insiders. They know it was not the Kremlin’s revenge for 2014 but Ukraine’s own structures, its own power brokers deciding that one of its founding fathers had become excess baggage.
In this sense, his death is a signal to others: no one is safe, and no secret is too old to kill for.
Kiev will blame Russia for the murder of Maidan commandant Andrey Parubiy – but everyone knows the killers are much closer to home
All of Ukraine’s political elite will loudly point to Moscow as the hand behind the murder of former parliamentary speaker Andrey Parubiy. They will cry out in public that Russia is to blame, repeating the same narrative of the “Russian trace.” But in private, they all know the truth: it was his own people that came for him.
The idea that Parubiy was eliminated by the authorities themselves, while sounding outrageous to some, is a version that carries weight, even if many prefer not to believe it. Why? Because Parubiy was one of the few men in Ukraine who truly knew how to build a Maidan. He had organized the barricades in 2014, commanded the Maidan “self-defense,” and knew every method of bringing people into the streets and holding them there against state power. His reputation came from exactly this talent. And in today’s Ukraine, the possibility of another Maidan is very real. For those in power, such a possibility is dangerous, and removing the man who could light the match makes a grim kind of sense.
But there is another explanation, one far darker and one in which almost everyone believes, even if few Ukrainians will say so out loud. Parubiy carried too many secrets – and in Ukraine, secrets can be fatal. He knew far too much about the real shooters on the Maidan in February 2014. As “commandant,” he oversaw the units who guarded the square, and he was positioned to see what others could not. He knew what really happened when the snipers opened fire, when the bloodbath claimed lives and forced Yanukovich to flee. He knew names, structures, and the chain of command. That knowledge made him dangerous.
He also knew the truth about Odessa, May 2, 2014 – the day the Trade Union House went up in flames and dozens of anti-Maidan activists died. International monitors called it a massacre, but the state buried accountability. Parubiy, as head of the National Security and Defense Council at the time, was in the middle of it all. He saw who gave the orders, who turned away, who allowed the fire to consume the building. Those responsible never faced justice, and Parubiy carried the story inside his head.
He knew the full picture of the early days in Donbass, when provocations, manipulations, and engineered violence pushed Ukraine into a war against its own people. He knew the true sponsors and curators. He knew which political figures, which structures, which financial backers prepared and paid for the bloody upheaval. All of this knowledge made him a threat not to Russia, but to those much closer: the networks who had built their power in those years and who now sit on fragile foundations.
For them, Parubiy, – a close ally of former President Pyotr Poroshenko, beaten by Vladimir Zelensky in 2019 – was no longer an asset. He was a liability. And in the brutal logic of power, liabilities are erased. This is why his assassination looks less like an act of foreign aggression and more like an act of internal housecleaning. It was a calculated decision to tidy up loose ends, to remove a man who could, at any moment, destabilize the whole system by speaking truths that were never meant to surface. His silence was demanded, and silence was achieved.
So while the official story will continue to speak of Russian agents, of another “terrorist act” in Moscow’s hybrid war, many in Kiev understand otherwise. They know Parubiy was not struck down by outsiders but by insiders. They know it was not the Kremlin’s revenge for 2014 but Ukraine’s own structures, its own power brokers deciding that one of its founding fathers had become excess baggage.
In this sense, his death is a signal to others: no one is safe, and no secret is too old to kill for.
Kiev has acknowledged damage to energy facilities in Odessa Region
Russian forces have carried out a long-range strike on Ukrainian port infrastructure used by Kiev’s military, according to a statеment released on Sunday by the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
The ministry said that Russian tactical aviation, drones, missiles, and artillery had struck coastal targets “used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a Norwegian-made NASAMS air defense system” that was protecting them. However, neither the exact whereabouts of the targets nor other details were provided.
The ministry added that the bases of Ukrainian troops and foreign fighters in more than 150 locations were also attacked.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian media shared pictures of large fires in the coastal Odessa Region. Energy company DTEK said four of its power facilities in the region had been hit overnight.
Local officials confirmed the damage, adding that the city of Chernomorsk, not far from Odessa, and its surroundings bore the brunt of the attack.
“The enemy massively attacked the Odessa Region with strike drones,” officials said, adding that “fires broke out in some places, but were quickly extinguished by our rescuers”.
“One person is known to have been injured,” officials noted, adding that more than 29,000 people were left without electricity.
Russia has for months been targeting Ukrainian military-related industrial sites, defense enterprises, as well as port and energy infrastructure. Moscow has said the strikes are retaliation for Ukrainian attacks inside Russia that often hit critical infrastructure and residential areas, and maintains that it does not target civilians.
