A man was walking through the streets of Lviv, a western Ukrainian city hundreds of kilometers from the front line. Suddenly, another individual emerged from between parked cars behind him, wearing a helmet and a backpack resembling those used by food delivery riders. The assailant drew a pistol and fired eight shots: the victim collapsed to the ground, and the murderer fled at a brisk pace.
Security camera footage captured the final moments of Andriy Parubiy, a Ukrainian politician, former parliamentary speaker, a leader of the 2014 Euromaidan protests, and a fervent supporter of Ukraine’s European integration. The cold-blooded assassination in broad daylight underscores that the violence in Ukraine is not confined to the fighting in the east or Russian raids—which included 580 drones and missiles in the latest overnight attack. The killing has alarmed the government of Volodymyr Zelensky, who described it as a “carefully prepared ambush.” A nationwide manhunt is underway for the perpetrator, over whom the shadow of Moscow’s involvement looms.
Parubiy, born in 1971, was a long-time activist, legislator, and government official. During the Soviet era, he organized anti-government demonstrations and was arrested twice. After Ukraine’s independence, he entered politics and was first elected to parliament in 2007. He participated in the 2004 Orange Revolution and in 2013-2014 led groups of ‘self-defense volunteers’ during the Euromaidan protests.
Following the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, Parubiy was appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. He held the post until August 2014, when the occupation of Crimea occurred and the war in Donbas erupted. He later served as First Deputy Chairman of Parliament from 2014 to 2016 and as Speaker from 2016 to 2019. That year, he joined the European Solidarity party of former President Petro Poroshenko, who called his assassination a “blow to the heart of Ukraine.”
Kyiv has officially launched a special operation, dubbed “Siren,” to capture the killer and clarify the motives for the murder, with the involvement of the SBU, Ukraine’s security service. Paying tribute to “a statesman, patriot, and unwavering fighter for Ukraine’s independence,” intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov stated that Parubiy was “killed by enemy bullets.”
Police have not ruled out Russian involvement. Parubiy’s role at the start of the Donbas war and his past in Ukrainian far-right circles made him a frequent target of Moscow’s propaganda and disinformation campaigns. He had been wanted by Russian authorities since 2023. Kyiv and Moscow are no strangers to the assassinations of prominent political figures from both countries, in a parallel war to the one on the front lines.
Meanwhile, appeals for a truce to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict go unheeded. Overnight, Russian forces launched a record 582 drones and missiles against Ukraine, 548 of which were intercepted. Authorities reported one dead and 30 wounded in Zaporizhzhia, one dead in Donetsk, and another victim in Kherson.
“When Russia once again demonstrates that it doesn’t care about words, we count on concrete actions,” said Zelensky, urging the world to pressure Putin. However, the Kremlin shows no intention of halting an invasion it claims is successful. According to Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, Russian forces have captured “over 3,500 square kilometers of territory and 149 settlements” since March.
“We control 74% of the Zaporizhzhia region, 76% of Kherson, 99.7% of Luhansk, and 79% of Donetsk,” the general stated, claiming his soldiers are also advancing in Dnipropetrovsk, where “seven settlements have been placed under their control.” “We are conducting an uninterrupted offensive along almost the entire front line,” Gerasimov asserted. “As of today, the strategic initiative belongs entirely to the Russian armed forces.”