Former Ukraine parliament speaker shot dead in Lviv

Andriy Parubiy, a senior Ukrainian politician who served as the parliament’s speaker, has been shot dead in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.

“Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko and prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko have just reported the first known circumstances of the horrendous murder in Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was killed,” Zelenskyy said on X.

The country’s national police earlier in the day reported a shooting in Lviv, the nearest major Ukrainian city to the Polish border, without giving further details.

“My condolences to his family and loved ones. All necessary forces and means are engaged in the investigation and search for the killer,” the Ukrainian president added.

Parubiy played a major role in the pro-Western Euromaidan revolution in 2013-2014 and was the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, also known as Verkhovna Rada, from 2016-2019.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced that a murder investigation has been launched.

“All necessary forces and means are being deployed,” Zelenskyy said in his statement.

Ukraine’s prosecutors said “an unidentified gunman fired several shots at the politician” and that Parubiy “died on the spot.”

Officials haven’t yet commented on a possible motive, according to Ukrainian outlets.

This is a developing story.