Original Material
RBK-Ukraina publishes video showing murder of former Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov
RBK-Ukraina has published a video of the murder of former Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov. Journalists gained access to this video from sources in Ukraine’s security services.
- Denis Voronenkov, a former lawmaker in the Russian State Duma, was gunned down in broad daylight in Kiev on March 23. His bodyguard was injured, but returned fire and wounded the shooter. The shooter later died at the hospital.
- The murderer is Ukrainian citizen Pavel Parshov who once served in country’s National Guard. Anton Gerashchenko, the advisor Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said that Parshov was in trained at “a special training course in the school for saboteurs” in Russia.
- On Thursday, hours after the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Voronenkov’s murder a Russia-endorsed act of terrorism. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov blamed Ukraine for the death of the former Duma deputy.
- In a February 14 interview with Ukrainian publication Censor.net.ua, Voronenkov compared Russia with Nazi Germany, called the annexation of Crimea a mistake, and declared all-out fraud in Russia’s election. “The current situation in Russia is [like that of] Hitler’s Nazi Germany ... the whole country has gone mad in a pseudo-patriotic frenzy,” said Voronenkov. According to the former deputy, “Crimea has become a litmus test – it united Russia around the idea of [stealing] something from its neighbor.”
- Voronenkov also said that Russia falsified the results of its elections, [both municipal to federal], and that the FSB has usurped the powers of all other law enforcement agencies in the country.
- Voronenkov confirmed that he testified against former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, whom Ukraine has accused of treason, in an investigation led by Ukrainian Prosecutor’s office. According to Voronenkov, Yanukovich “betrayed his country, was involved in the mass murder of people, fled to another country, and called on the army of another state to destroy his people.”
- Voronenkov left Russia in October 2016. In December, he was given Ukrainian citizenship.