KYIV: Ukraine suspects Russian involvement in the murder of former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy, the head of the Ukrainian police said on Monday.
Parubiy was shot dead in the western city of Lviv on Saturday and President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Monday that a suspect had been arrested for what he called “a horrific murder” that impacted “security in a country at war.”
“We know that this crime was not accidental. There is Russian involvement. Everyone will be held accountable before the law,” police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said on Facebook.
Russia has not commented on the killing or on the suggestion that it was involved in the incident.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app that the suspected shooter had been detained overnight in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine.
“Many details cannot be shared at this time,” Klymenko said. “I will only say that the crime was carefully planned: the victim’s movements were studied, a route was mapped out, and an escape plan was thought through.”
Police chief Vyhivskyi said the suspect had disguised himself as a courier and had opened fire on Parubiy in broad daylight, firing his weapon eight times.
The shooter even made sure that the victim was dead, Vyhivskyi added.
“He spent a long time preparing, watching, planning, and finally pulling the trigger. It took us only 36 hours to track him down and arrest him,” Vyhivskyi added.
Police published two photographs from the scene of the arrest that show two special forces officers holding a handcuffed man by the arms. Naked to the waist, he has his back to the camera and his face is not visible.
Parubiy, 54, was a member of Ukraine’s parliament and had served as parliamentary speaker from April 2016 to August 2019. He was one of the leaders of protests in 2013-14 demanding closer ties with the European Union that led to the ousting of Ukraine’s then pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich.
Parubiy was also secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council from February to August 2014, a period when Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula and Moscow-backed separatists began fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine suspects Russia involved in killing of former parliamentary speaker, says police chief
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Ukraine suspects Russia involved in killing of former parliamentary speaker, says police chief
- ‘We know that this crime was not accidental. There is Russian involvement. Everyone will be held accountable before the law’
- Russia has not commented on the killing or on the suggestion that it was involved in the incident
Trump downplays importance of Russia reportedly sharing intel with Iran to help it hit US targets
- Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine
- Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets
DORAL, Florida: President Donald Trump said Saturday that it was inconsequential if Russia has provided Iran with information to help Tehran target US military personnel and assets in the Middle East as the week-old war rages.
The president dismissed the import of such information-sharing after he attended the dignified transfer for six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait the day after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran that has unsettled the global economy.
Trump stopped short of confirming reports by The Associated Press and other news outlets that US intelligence officials believe Russia has provided Iran with such targeting information. But if Moscow is passing on such details, he said Iran was getting little out of it.
“If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Miami, where he’s spending the rest of the weekend.
The president also waved off a question about how Russia assisting Iran in such a way might affect his view of the US-Russia relationship.
“They’d say we do it against them,” Trump responded. “Wouldn’t they say that we do it against them?”
Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets.
Downplaying the significance of Russia handing off battlespace intelligence to Iran came after the US Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it was temporarily allowing India to keep buying crude oil and petroleum products from Russia for a month, until April 4.
The administration decision to grant the world’s most populous country a temporary exemption faced bipartisan blowback. Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, condemned the move, saying in a post on X that “weakness toward Russia is appalling.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., in his own X post directed at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also decried the administration’s decision.
“Reverse your decision to lift oil sanctions on Russia. It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” Lieu said. “Meanwhile, Russia is assisting Iran in targeting American troops.”
Trump has decided to give India leeway on oil purchases from Russia as global oil prices surge and investors across sectors worry about how long the Iran war will last.
The waiver for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government followed Trump announcing weeks ago that he was cutting tariffs on India after their officials agreed to reduce its reliance on cheap Russian crude.
India has taken advantage of reduced Russian oil prices as much of the world has sought to isolate Moscow for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The price of oil has surged higher and shows no signs of halting a week into a war that the US and Israel launched and has widened through the Middle East as Tehran strikes back. Ships that carry roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are unable to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf that is bordered on its north side by Iran.
The shipping disruption and damage to key Middle East oil and gas facilities has interrupted supplies from some of the world’s largest oil producers.
Asked whether he was willing to take other steps to ease oil prices, Trump said that “if there were some, I would do it, just to take a little of the pressure off.”
He appeared Saturday to wave off, at least for now, the possibility of tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying the US has a “lot of oil.”
The reserve — a supply of oil that the US government can tap in case of emergencies — held more than 415 million barrels as of the end of last month, up from about 395 million barrels at this time in 2025. In total, when full, the SPR can hold more than 700 million barrels.
“We’ve got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount,” Trump said. “There’s a lot of oil out there. That’ll get healed very quickly.”
