By Obinna Uballa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the killing of former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy as a “horrendous murder,” vowing that every resource will be deployed to track down the attacker.
“All necessary forces and means are engaged in the investigation and search for the killer,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media, while expressing condolences to Parubiy’s family and loved ones.
Parubiy, 54, was gunned down on Saturday in Lviv, western Ukraine. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, an unidentified assailant fired several shots at the veteran politician, killing him instantly before fleeing the scene.
A nationwide manhunt is under way, but officials have not yet disclosed any possible motive, Al Jazeera reported.
Reports say Parubiy was a prominent figure in Ukrainian politics, serving as the speaker of parliament from April 2016 to August 2019. He also previously headed the National Security and Defence Council and played a leading role in the 2013 to 2014 Euromaidan protests that pushed for closer integration with the European Union.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi called the assassination a major security concern, warning that even in wartime Ukraine, there are “no completely safe places.”
“This is a matter of security in a country at war,” Sadovyi wrote on Telegram, urging a swift and thorough investigation.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said law enforcement agencies are pursuing every lead to bring the killer to justice.
