Kiev, Sept 3, (dpa/GNA) – A suspect in the murder of former Ukrainian parliamentary speaker, Andriy Parubiy, has confessed.
“Yes, I admit that I killed him, and I want to be sentenced as quickly as possible and exchanged for a prisoner of war (in Russia), so that I can search for the body of my dead son,” the man told local journalists during a court hearing in Lviv on Tuesday.
“This is my personal revenge against the Ukrainian state,” the 52-year-old said, explaining his motive.
Parubiy was reportedly chosen as the victim because he lived near the suspect. The man denied having any connections to Russian intelligence services.
Police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had previously spoken of a “Russian link.” According to media reports, the suspect’s son went missing in 2023, during fighting with Russian forces near the now-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Parubiy was buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday, with large crowds in attendance.
Among those present at the funeral were former president Petro Poroshenko, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
The nationalist politician was shot dead in broad daylight on Saturday in Lviv. The suspect was arrested about a day and a half after the murder, in the neighbouring Khmelnytskyi region.
Parubiy was most recently a member of Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party, and was best known as one of the organizers of the pro-Western protests during the winter of 2013-14.
GNA