Ukrainian Catholic leaders condemn assassination of Ukrainian lawmaker

Leaders of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church have condemned the assassination of a Ukrainian politician who was instrumental to that nation’s post-Soviet independence, as authorities investigate the killer’s ties to Russian intelligence.

“We were deeply shocked and outraged by the news of the brutal murder of the outstanding statesman, freedom fighter of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk in an Aug. 30 statement.

The 54-year-old Parubiy — a sitting member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, or Parliament, and that body’s former speaker — was slain in broad daylight Aug. 30 on a street in the western city of Lviv. Surveillance video shows the gunman, dressed as a food delivery worker, approaching Parubiy and firing some eight shots at Parubiy, who died on the spot before first responders could arrive.

According to Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske, the unnamed suspect told journalists during his courtroom arraignment that he had murdered Parubiy in “revenge on the Ukrainian authorities” for the death of his son, who had died while fighting Russian forces in Bakhmut, located in Ukraine’s east.

Bakhmut has seen some of the fiercest clashes in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which continues attacks launched in 2014 and which has been declared a genocide in two joint reports from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.

However, the suspect’s ex-wife, artist and author Olena Cherninka, issued a Sept. 2 statement on Facebook, noting that her former spouse, whom she divorced in 2000, had long been estranged from their son. Contact between the father and son, whom she described as a “hero,” had been sporadic, she said.

Ukrainian national police chief Ivan Vyhyvskiy said the crime was “not accidental” and betrayed a “Russian trace.”

“We strongly condemn this audacious crime directed against the Ukrainian people and our statehood,” said Major Archbishop Shevchuk in his statement.

He described Parubiy as “a true patriot who played a key role in the public and state life of Ukraine, especially during the Revolution of Dignity,” also known as the Maidan or Euromaidan Revolution), when in 2014 Ukrainians firmly — and at the cost of more than 100 lives — rejected their pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych and his Moscow-focused path

Previously, Parubiy had played a key role in Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, sparked when Yanukovych was declared winner in a contested political election, with that victory ultimately overturned.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Parubiy joined the territorial defense forces, serving at checkpoints in the Kyiv region.

Parubiy’s “service to Ukraine and sacrifice are an example to follow,” said Major Archbishop Shevchuk.

“We expect a comprehensive and objective investigation of this crime so that the guilty are found and brought to justice,” he added. “We believe that only fair justice can prevent such tragedies in the future.”

At Parubiy’s funeral — which took place at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Lviv, with thousands in attendance — Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, the principal presider at the service, reflected that “Andriy was executed for you and for me, for us. And today he speaks to us for the last time.”

Parubiy’s final message, said the archbishop, was “love one another. … Love and protect (one another even at the cost of our own lives. … And do not be afraid of even the greatest sacrifice.”

Archbishop Gudziak also shared that Parubiy’s widow, Ulyana, had said she forgave her husband’s murderer.

“Ulyana gives us a testimony about the likeness of Christ,” said Archbishop Gudziak.

“At this time of sorrow, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church prays for the eternal rest of the soul of Andriy Parubiy. We ask the Lord to receive him into his heavenly abodes,” said Major Archbishop Shevchuk in his statement. “Eternal memory and the Kingdom of Heaven!”

Hours after Parubiy’s funeral, Russia launched some 526 drones and missiles across Ukraine on the evening of Sept. 3, with one striking the apartment of Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Mykhailo Kramar.

In a Sept. 3 Facebook post, the married priest said he and his family were unharmed, although several photos he posted showed extensive damage to their living quarters, with windows shattered, the building entrance destroyed, and even the priest’s vestments seared by flaming debris.

Two images of Christ, including one of the Divine Mercy, were seen unscathed next to a blown-out window.

“No matter what: Ukraine is standing! Ukraine is fighting back! Ukraine is praying!” wrote Father Kramar.

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