Ex-Ukrainian parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy shot dead in Lviv; Zelensky orders immediate probe

Former Ukrainian parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy was shot and killed in Lviv on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed. “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. My condolences to his family and loved ones,” Zelensky posted on X. He added that all necessary forces and means had been deployed to investigate the incident and search for the killer.

Authorities reported that Parubiy was shot multiple times, but the identity of the assailant has not yet been revealed. Police and investigative teams have launched a full-scale inquiry into the circumstances of the attack and are working to trace the perpetrator.

Parubiy was born on January 31, 1971. He served as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, from April 14, 2016, to August 29, 2019. He was an active supporter of the pro-European Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Maidan Revolution in 2014, participating in key political movements shaping Ukraine’s democratic direction.

Before his tenure as parliamentary speaker, Parubiy was a deputy in the Lviv regional council and later became a Deputy in the Verkhovna Rada in 2007. In February 2010, he appealed to the European Parliament regarding former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s decision to award Stepan Bandera the title of Hero of Ukraine. On August 7, 2014, he resigned as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, citing the ongoing war and stating he would “continue to assist the front, primarily volunteer battalions.”

In September 2014, Parubiy co-founded the People’s Front party. He was re-elected to the Verkhovna Rada in October 2014 and appointed Deputy Chairman of the parliament in December. Parubiy was widely recognized as a prominent political figure in Ukraine, and authorities continue to investigate his killing.