Ukrainian authorities announced Thursday the arrest of a suspect involved in the July 19 assassination of Ukrainian linguist and ultranationalist Iryna Farion.
In a Telegram announcement, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the suspect was an 18-year-old resident from Dnipro in central Ukraine, who traveled to Lviv and rented at least three apartments there to carry out the assassination.
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Ukrainska Pravda published a photo of the suspect, citing sources from within the law enforcement, who also claimed the suspect entered and left Lviv by train.
Klymenko said the current investigation is “inclined to the opinion that the shooter is only an executor,” meaning the suspect likely acted with accomplices.
The motive of the assassination remains unclear.
“There is enough evidence to claim that it was the detainee who shot the linguist. 139 hours of continuous work by a huge team of operatives, investigators, criminal analysts, experts, other police services, and employees of the Security Service of Ukraine,” said Klymenko, adding that authorities searched “about 100 hectares of forest” to cover the suspect’s potential escape route.
Ukrainian law enforcement is also investigating claims by a Russian neo-Nazi group called National Socialism/White Power (NS/WP) that claimed responsibility for the assassination, whose video began circulating on Russian social media channels on Wednesday evening.
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While some scenes in the video resembled the crime scene, it's unclear whether the video is authentic.
A Kyiv Post report at the time of the assassination covered Farion’s background in detail.
Among Farion’s controversial remarks were her statements in November 2023 that Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Regiment who speak Russian were not “true patriots,” which drew widespread criticism and mockery.
However, it’s not clear at present if the assassination was related to her controversial remarks.
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