Law enforcement finds weapon used to kill Parubiy – prosecutor general
Law enforcement agencies have found the weapon used to kill a member of parliament and prominent Ukrainian political figure, Andriy Parubiy.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
"The prosecutor's office, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the National Police continue the investigation into the murder of MP Andriy Parubiy. There are new, fundamentally important results: during investigative actions and joint operational measures, a pistol used to kill Andriy Parubiy was discovered and seized. It was this weapon that the suspect attempted to hide in a specially equipped cache," he said.
Kravchenko added that law enforcement has also obtained new evidence indicating that the suspect committed not only premeditated murder but also a number of grave crimes against the foundations of Ukraine's national security.
"In this regard, the suspect's actions have been additionally reclassified under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason) and Parts 1 and 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (justification and glorification of Russia's armed aggression)," he said.
The investigation established that the suspect acted in the interests of the Russian Federation's special services during martial law: he transmitted information to the enemy about the deployment and movement of units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and provided intelligence materials to coordinate sabotage activities.
Law enforcement also documented instances of public justification by the suspect of Russia's aggression, glorification of the actions of the aggressor state, and denial of the fact of the war launched in 2014.
Kravchenko recalled that earlier the suspect had already been charged under Part 1 of Article 263 and Article 112 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
He noted that the suspect had deliberately prepared for the murder over a long period: gathering information about Parubiy's routes and whereabouts, receiving a firearm from his Russian handlers, and on August 30 cold-bloodedly firing eight shots, as a result of which the MP died at the scene.
"The investigation is ongoing. We are focused on fully establishing all the circumstances of the crimes, as well as identifying possible accomplices and sources coordinating the suspect's actions," Kravchenko said.
On August 30 in Lviv, former Verkhovna Rada Speaker and MP Andriy Parubiy was shot dead. The attacker fired eight shots.
On the night of August 31 to September 1, the suspect in the murder was detained in the Khmelnytskyi region.
On September 1, the head of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office signed a notice of suspicion against a Lviv resident in the Parubiy murder case.
Before the start of the court hearing, the suspect admitted to journalists that he had committed the killing.