Investigations underway: Russian critic, ex-MP and Ukrainian university professor Iryna Farion killed in Lviv

On July 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had received reports of the murder of Iryna Farion. He stated that all versions were being investigated, including the one leading to Russia.

On the evening of July 19, a killer shot dead former Ukrainian MP, professor and linguist Iryna Farion. The incident occurred in Lviv on Masaryk Street, near her apartment.

Witnesses reported that the killer fired one shot and quickly fled the scene. In the assassination attempt, Farion suffered a gunshot wound to the head. She was quickly rushed to a local hospital, where doctors tried for several hours to save her life, but their attempts seemed unsuccessful.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi and Head of Lviv Regional State Administration Maksym Kozytskyi confirmed that Iryna Farion died at 23:20.

60-year-old Iryna Farion was born, grew up and spent almost her entire life in Lviv. For almost 30 years she lectured at the Lviv National Polytechnic University.

While working in the Ukrainian parliament, when Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions were in power, Farion opposed all initiatives restricting the Ukrainian language. Yanukovych was overthrown in 2014 after the Euromaidan protests.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Farion also supported the ban on the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Ukraine.

“I believe that this structure, which calls itself the Moscow Patriarchate, has nothing to do with Christianity. It is one of the greatest threats to the free and self-sufficient development of Ukraine. And as long as this institution occupies the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Ukrainians will remain enslaved,” said the professor in 2008.

After the early elections in 2014, when her party failed to enter the Verkhovna Rada, Farion returned to Lviv and continued her university career.

On the night of July 19-20, the police considered several versions of the reasons for the murder of Iryna Farion.

The main reasons were her public and political activities and personal hostility towards her, said Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko during a night briefing. After hearing the news of the assassination attempt, he immediately travelled to Lviv.

To carry out operational measures, the Ministry of Internal Affairs involved the entire Lviv police and law enforcement agencies of the Lviv region. In addition, agents and investigators of the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine from Kyiv were sent to the city.

The TV channel We-Ukraine quoted a resident of the apartment building on Masaryk Street in Lviv where Farion lived. According to him, about two weeks ago an unknown young man, about eighteen years old, appeared near the entrance. In the morning he sat down on a bench opposite the professor’s entrance and did not leave the house until the evening, Zaxid.net reports.

In photos published by the media, he can be seen wearing a black fishing hat, black sunglasses and a red T-shirt with the words “Los Angeles” printed on it.

Ihor Klymenko confirmed that the unknown man in the photo is the main suspect. The police are currently conducting a manhunt to arrest him.

The linguist has repeatedly been at the centre of public discussions with her statements in defence of the Ukrainian language and her categorical demands for a departure from the Soviet past in Ukraine.

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