Hundreds mourn pro-Western Ukrainian politician who was gunned down in the street

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of people turned out Tuesday for the funeral of former Ukrainian parliament speaker and prominent pro-Western politician Andriy Parubiy, who was gunned down in the street last weekend.

Crowds gathered in sweltering heat outside St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv, a city some 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where Parubiy was fatally shot on Saturday.

Parubiy’s coffin was carried in a procession to Lviv’s central square for a ceremony before he was buried at Lychakiv Cemetery, the resting place of many of the city’s most renowned figures.

Parubiy, 54, was a lawmaker from the Lviv region who participated in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004. He also led self-defense volunteer units during the Maidan protests of 2014, which forced pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych from office. He was the parliamentary speaker from 2016 to 2019.

Investigators are seeking to establish a motive for the killing and are not ruling out Russian involvement, according to Andrii Niebytov, the deputy head of the National Police and chief of the Criminal Police.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Monday the killing of Parubiy was not a random act but a carefully prepared operation.

“The victim’s movements were studied, a route was mapped out, and an escape plan was devised,” Klymenko said.

Police on Sunday detained a suspect in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.

The Lviv regional prosecutors’ office said Tuesday a court had ordered the suspect, identified only as a 52-year-old Lviv resident, be held for 60 days without bail while the investigation proceeds.

Parubiy died on the spot after the suspect fired eight bullets at him, the prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

Ukraine’s former military commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, called Parubiy’s death a “loss for us all.”

“His life is a reminder to all of us: independence rests not on speeches, but on those who are ready to give everything for it,” Zaluzhnyi wrote on Telegram.

Senior government and regional figures attended the funeral.

Parubiy is survived by his wife Ulyana and daughter Yaryna.

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Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report.

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