Former Ukrainian parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy has been shot dead in the western city of Lviv, Ukrainian authorities confirmed on Saturday.
Police said the shooting occurred around midday local time in the Frankivsk district. According to unconfirmed reports, the 54-year-old was shot multiple times by a gunman disguised as a courier riding an e-bike.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the killing as a “terrible murder” and offered condolences to Parubiy’s family. Ukraine’s national police, regional law enforcement, and the security service have launched a joint investigation. Officials say the identity and motive of the assailant remain unclear.
Parubiy was a central figure in Ukraine’s Euromaidan movement, which began in late 2013 after the government refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union. The protests ultimately led to the ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Following the revolution, Parubiy was appointed secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, a position he held during Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Parubiy joined Ukraine’s territorial defense units, underscoring his reputation as one of the country’s most committed defenders.
Tributes poured in following news of his death. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called him “a patriot and statesman who made an enormous contribution to the defence of Ukraine’s freedom, independence and sovereignty.”
Former President Petro Poroshenko said the assassination was “a shot fired at the heart of Ukraine,” describing Parubiy as “a great man and a true friend” who had played a crucial role in building Ukraine’s army.
In a statement on Telegram, Zelensky wrote: “The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko have just reported on the first known circumstances of the terrible murder in Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was killed. My condolences to his family and friends. All necessary forces and means are being deployed to investigate and find the killer.”
The killing comes amid escalating violence in the war. In recent days, Russia has launched what Kyiv officials described as “massive” missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces struck several Russian oil refineries.
Parubiy’s death is expected to reverberate deeply across Ukraine, where he is remembered as one of the architects of the Euromaidan revolution and a staunch defender of national sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression.