Investigation launched into ‘horrific murder’ of Ukrainian politician in Lviv

Original article by Clea Skopeliti

A Ukrainian former parliamentary speaker was shot dead in Lviv on Saturday, authorities said, as European foreign ministers met to discuss increasing pressure on Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.

Andriy Parubiy, a member of parliament who served as parliamentary speaker from 2016 to 2019 and a key figure in Ukraine’s 2013 pro-European Maidan revolution, was shot dead, prosecutors said. A murder investigation has been launched and the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the killing as a “horrific murder”.

Europe’s foreign ministers met in Copenhagen to discuss possible measures to force Moscow to the negotiating table. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that Russia was “clearly not preparing for peace”.

“The European Union and all the member states support the diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and the end of Russia’s war. But it’s clear that Russia is not preparing for peace. It is the opposite: they are preparing for more war,” she said. Ministers also discussed the war in Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis there.

The summit, which was an informal meeting and as such did not involve ministers committing to any concrete steps, took place at the end of a violent week. Russia launched a large airstrike on Kyiv, killing at least 21 people on Thursday. There was also an overnight strike on a five-storey residential building that killed one person and injured 24 others in Zaporizhzhia, and the Dnipropetrovsk region faced a “massive attack” early on Saturday, its governor said, with strikes in Dnipro and Pavlograd.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed 18 packages of sanctions against Russia, with the latest adopted in July. Ministers on Saturday discussed options for a fresh package, with measures floated including import bans and tariffs; secondary sanctions, which would affect third parties trading with the country; and stepping up efforts against Russian shadow fleet ships, which have been used to evade western sanctions on its oil exports.

The question of using Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction was also discussed. “Ministers acknowledged the need to address Ukraine’s financing gap and to hold Russia accountable for war damages. To achieve this, it is crucial to explore all avenues while minimising the potential risks,” Kallas said, underlining that financial markets “did not react when the assets were frozen”.

“One thing is clear: given the devastation Russia has caused and is causing, it is unthinkable that Russia will ever see this money again unless it fully compensates Ukraine for damages caused,” she said. The cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction has been estimated at €506bn (£438bn) over the next decade.

Ministers will propose next steps in the coming week, the EU foreign policy chief said, noting that any action taken “would be stronger if matched by our transatlantic partners”.

The Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said Russia’s leader would only respond to “hard pressure”. “I think everybody agrees it’s very clear that Putin is trying to buy time and divert attention from the massive and brutal attacks on Ukraine. He must not succeed – the only language he understands is that of hard pressure.”

Zelenskyy on Saturday accused Russia of using “the time meant for preparing a leaders’-level meeting to organise new massive attacks” and called for “tough measures” in the form of banking and energy sanctions.