- The man denied cooperation with Russia in the murder of Parubija.
- He claims that the act was the result of a personal retribution.
- Parubij was a prominent Ukrainian politician and activist.
A man suspected of shooting former chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Andrij Parubija on Tuesday denied that he had cooperated with Russia on the attack. He described the murder as “personal reward”, It writes TASR, according to the AFP report.
“This is my personal remuneration to the Ukrainian authorities. Yes. I admit that I killed him,” said the suspect Mychajlo Štelnikov (52) journalists in a video published by the Ukrainian media. The suspect answered the suspect on the following question whether he cooperated directly with the Russian authorities. Štelnikov was arrested on Sunday evening if he confessed the next day. The Ukrainian police said on Monday that the “carefully planned” act was carried out by the attacker in cooperation with the Russian authorities.
According to Monday’s statement by the Office of Ukrainian Prosecutor General The detainee testified that his son served in the Ukrainian army, and since 2023, when his unit was dislocated at Bachmut in eastern Ukraine, he is missing. In an effort to find him, the man began to monitor Russian social networks and made contact with the Russians who reportedly told him that his son was dead.
Radio Freedom (RFE/RL), referring to the Ukrainian media and their own sources, said the Russian secret services of the detainee Ukrainian blackmail that the information about the place where his son’s body was found would provide him in exchange for “murder of any known Ukrainian politician”. Štelnikov reportedly testified that he received a weapon in preparation for the murder, bought equipment – a bike and a helmet, and for false documents he also bought a car he used for Parubij’s tracking.
Shooting at a 54-year-old politician occurred on Saturday at approximately 11:00 am. In the afternoon CEST in the West Louis Lviv, while the perpetrator fired at the politics several times. Police said Parubij “died as a result of injuries at the scene”. According to the media, eight shots fell and the perpetrator was reportedly changed on the delivery service courier. After the murder he escaped.
Parubij, who was chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament between 2016 and 2019was a prominent supporter of the pro -European orange revolution in 2004 and also the revolution on Majdan in 2014.
