Suspect Arrested in Assassination of Ukrainian Politician Andriy Parubiy in Lviv

Andriy Parubiy had requested a security detail months before his death, but had been refused

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the assassination of prominent pro-European politician Andriy Parubiy, 54, a former speaker of parliament and leading figure in the 2014 Maidan revolution.

Parubiy was fatally shot eight times on Saturday in a suburb of Lviv, western Ukraine, by an assailant disguised as a food delivery rider. Authorities are investigating multiple motives, including suspicions that the killing was a contract hit ordered by Russia.

Police at the scene of the assassination

Zelensky said he was briefed by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Security Service chief Vasyl Malyuk on the arrest. “The necessary investigative actions are ongoing. I thank our law enforcement officers for their prompt and coordinated work,” he wrote. After consultations with Chief Prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko, Zelensky added that the suspect had provided an initial testimony, and urgent steps were underway to establish the full circumstances of the murder.

According to Klymenko, the arrest took place in Ukraine’s Khmelnytsky region, where dozens of police and security officers were deployed. He noted that the killing had been carefully orchestrated, with the gunman studying Parubiy’s schedule, mapping his movements, and planning an escape route. Zelensky earlier said the shooting was clearly a deliberate and meticulously planned act.

The scene of the assassination

Reports later revealed that Parubiy had requested a security detail six months before his death, but the request was denied. Ukraine’s department of state security explained that only top officials such as the prime minister and parliamentary speaker are granted protection, and as a former officeholder, Parubiy was not eligible.

The decision has sparked criticism. Boris Filatov, mayor of Dnipro and a close friend of Parubiy, accused the government of negligence, saying: “If the government wanted to have someone protected they would find a way to do it.”

Parubiy’s death has sent shockwaves through Ukraine’s political and cultural spheres. For decades, he was a vocal advocate for the use of the Ukrainian language in public life, making his killing widely viewed as an assault on Ukrainian identity. Prominent journalist Vitaly Portnikov described the assassination as “a reminder of the true reality of this war. This is an ideological war, that will not end on the battlefield.”

Parubiy manning a roadblock as part of the Armed Territorial Defence near Kyiv in March 2022

The attack follows the assassination last year in Lviv of Iryna Farion, a linguist and former MP known for promoting the Ukrainian language as a tool of decolonisation and for her criticism of Ukrainians who spoke Russian.

The murder coincided with one of Russia’s largest drone strikes on Ukraine this year. On Saturday night into Sunday morning, Russia launched 142 drones, of which 126 were shot down, according to Ukraine’s air force. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s general staff dismissed Russian claims of territorial success, insisting that no major city had fallen and estimating Russian losses at 291,000 soldiers since January.

Zelensky vowed that Ukraine would launch “new deep strikes” against Russia in response.