Ukraine detains man suspected of killing former MP and linguist Farion

Ukraine detains man suspected of killing former MP and linguist Farion

Ukrainian law enforcement officials on Thursday detained an 18-year-old male who is suspected of having killed former nationalist parliamentarian and linguist Iryna Farion last week, officials said.

Farion, known for her controversial campaigns to protect the Ukrainian language, was shot dead in the streets of the western city of Lviv last Friday.

"An 18-year-old boy was detained and the necessary investigative actions and examinations are continuing," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

The suspect was detained in his home city of Dnipro in Ukraine's southeast, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. In preparation for the crime, the suspect rented at least three apartments in Lviv, the minister said.

"Now the investigation is inclined to believe that the shooter is only a perpetrator," Klymenko said on Telegram, suggesting the incident might have been planned in concert with others.

The possible motives and links being investigated include a Russian connection, Farion's social activities, or personal hostility toward her, Klymenko told national TV, adding that other likely motives could emerge.

As a member of the ultranationalist Svoboda party, Farion served in Verkhovna Rada in 2012-2014. She campaigned robustly against Russian-speaking officials.

Last November, Farion criticized some Ukrainian troops repelling the full-scale Russian invasion for still speaking Russian, saying she could not call them Ukrainians. The statement sparked outrage.