Ukraine kills pro-Russian politician near Moscow
Kiev claims responsibility for the murder of the pro-Russian politician Ilya Kyva near Moscow, who was originally from Ukraine. He was "one of the biggest traitors". Another pro-Russian politician, Oleg Popov, dies in an attack in occupied Luhansk. It is not yet clear who is behind the attack.
According to information from Moscow, a pro-Russian politician has been killed in a car bomb attack in eastern Ukraine. The exact circumstances of the attack in the center of the city of Luhansk are still being investigated, the Russian Investigative Committee said. The man killed was Oleg Popov, who was a member of the Luhansk regional parliament, which is loyal to Moscow.
Russian troops are occupying the city in the region of the same name, which has around 400,000 inhabitants. It is located in the far east of Ukraine, close to the border with Russia. The front line on which the Ukrainian armed forces are attempting to liberate the territory from the Russian occupiers is around 100 kilometers from the city of Luhansk.
Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in February last year, several high-ranking politicians appointed by Moscow have already been the target of attacks. Just under a month ago, another member of the Luhansk regional parliament was killed by an explosive device attached to his car - Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attack. There was initially no reaction from Kiev to the attack on Popov. However, there was a reaction to another similar case: Ukraine has claimed responsibility for the killing of a pro-Russian politician who was found near Moscow on Wednesday.
Ukraine: Ilya Kyva murdered
According to information from Ukrainian defence circles obtained by the AFP news agency, the Ukrainian secret service SBU organized the murder of politician Ilya Kyva. Kyva was a member of the Ukrainian parliament until he was stripped of his seat a few weeks after the start of the Russian invasion and defected to Russia. According to Russian news agencies, 46-year-old Kyva was found lifeless with a "wound to the head" in a suburb of Moscow on Wednesday.
Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andryy Yusov said on Ukrainian television that his service could "confirm that Kyva is finished". Kyva was "one of the greatest traitors and collaborators" and his killing was "just", the spokesman said. A similar fate would "also befall other traitors to Ukraine and the henchmen of the Putin regime".
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, several pro-Russian politicians have been killed both in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and in Russia itself. Initially, Kiev mostly left open whether it was behind the killings. Recently, however, the Ukrainian government has frequently claimed responsibility for such acts and threatened "collaborators" and "traitors".
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The Ukrainian government has taken responsibility for the murder of pro-Russian politician Ilya Kyva, who was found dead near Moscow with a head wound. This comes after another pro-Russian politician, Oleg Popov, was killed in an attack in Luhansk, with Russia yet to determine the culprit.
In response to these attacks, Ukrainian military Intelligence spokesman Andryy Yusov has confirmed Kyva's death and described him as "one of the greatest traitors and collaborators," hinting at potential further actions against pro-Russian politicians.
Source: www.ntv.de
