Ukraine's SBU killed fugitive Ukrainian lawmaker in Russia, source says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illia Kyva seen March 31, 2019. (Photo by Sandlerdarina via Wikimedia Commons)

KYIV (Reuters) - A former Ukrainian lawmaker regarded by Kyiv as a traitor was shot dead near Moscow on Wednesday and a Ukrainian source said he was killed by the country's security service.

Illia Kyva was a pro-Russian member of Ukraine's parliament before Moscow invaded in February 2022, but had been in Russia throughout the war and frequently criticised Ukrainian authorities online.

Russian investigators said Kyva died on the spot after being shot in a park in Odintsovo region, southwest of Moscow, and they had opened a murder hunt.

The Ukrainian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the SBU security service was responsible.

Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine's GUR, another intelligence agency, said on Ukrainian television Kyva was "finished" but did not say who was behind his death.

Kyva had been sentenced in absentia by a Ukrainian court to 14 years in prison for charges including treason and incitement to violence.

Another pro-Russian ex-member of Ukraine's parliament, Oleg Tsaryov, survived an assassination attempt in Crimea in October.

Several pro-war Russian figures have been assassinated since the start of the war in operations blamed by Moscow on Ukraine, including journalist Darya Dugina, war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.

All of them were listed in Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), a huge unofficial Ukrainian database of people considered to be enemies of the country. On Wednesday Kyva's photo on the site was overwritten with the word "Liquidated" in blood-red letters.



(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, writing by Max Hunder; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Alison Williams)