Ukrainian officials have said they suspect Russian involvement in the assassination of prominent deputy Andriy Parubiy, as European leaders announced fresh talks on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war and provide long-term security guarantees to Kyiv.
An unnamed 52-year-old Ukrainian man was arrested on Sunday night in the Khmelnytskyi region, east of the city of Lviv where Mr Parubiy (54) was shot dead while walking down a street on Saturday. The former speaker of Ukraine’s parliament and ex-secretary of its national security council died in a pool of a blood on the pavement.
“Disguised as a courier, he opened fire on [Parubiy] in broad daylight. Eight shots. Cold-blooded cruelty. He even made sure that the victim was dead,” Ivan Vyhivskyi, the head of Ukraine’s national police force, said on Monday.
“Then he tried to cover his tracks – he changed his clothes, got rid of the weapon and tried to hide in the Khmelnytskyi region,” he added. “We know the crime was not random. There is a Russian trace in it. Everyone involved will face justice.”
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Vadym Onyshchenko, the head of Ukraine’s SBU domestic security service in Lviv region, said the attack appeared to be a contract killing.
“There is operational information indicating the possible involvement of the Russian Federation’s special services in organising the murder,” he added.
Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said “the crime was carefully prepared – the schedule of the deceased’s movements was studied, the route was plotted and an escape plan was devised”.
None of the officials offered evidence of Russian involvement, but Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of assassinating politicians and other public figures during Russia’s 3½-year full-scale invasion of its pro-western neighbour.
Mr Parubiy came to prominence during the 2013-2014 Maidan revolution, which ended with riot police shooting dead dozens of anti-government protesters in central Kyiv and Ukraine’s then Kremlin-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych, fleeing to Moscow. Russia then occupied Crimea and created heavily armed militias to seize parts of the Donbas area.
After eight years of localised fighting in the east, Russia escalated the conflict into all-out war in February 2022, killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians and displacing millions in the worst fighting in Europe since 1945.
France will host a meeting on Thursday of leaders of the so-called Coalition of the willing – about 30 countries, mostly European, that are ready to provide long-term security assistance to Ukraine if a US-led push for a peace deal is successful.
The leaders will “discuss work on security guarantees for Ukraine carried out in recent weeks and take stock of the consequences to be drawn from Russia’s attitude, which stubbornly refuses peace,” the French presidency said in a statement. Government ministers from countries involved in the initiative are scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to take part in Thursday’s meeting, either in person or via video link, as frustration deepens in Kyiv over US president Donald Trump’s repeated failure to make good on threats to get tougher with Russia if it continues to reject calls for an immediate ceasefire and a top-level peace summit.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had “no illusions” about prospects for a swift end to fighting in Ukraine.
“We are trying to end it as quickly as possible but certainly not at the price of Ukraine’s capitulation,” he told German television. “You could end the war tomorrow if Ukraine surrendered and lost its independence. Then the next country would be at risk the day after tomorrow, and the day after that it would be us. That is not an option.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told Mr Zelenskiy that Ireland is open to taking part in any appropriately mandated peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. In a phone call, Mr Martin also told Mr Zelenskiy that Ireland would continue to strongly support Ukraine’s path towards European Union membership.
