Russia: Ilya Kiva was shot dead in the Moscow region with an unidentified weapon

Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over the murder of former Ukrainian MP Ilya Kiva in the Odintsovo city district, the Russian Investigative Committee reports on its Telegram channel.

"According to preliminary investigative data, in the evening, in the park of one of the cottage villages in the village of Suponevo, Odintsovo city district, an unknown person fired shots at the victim from an unidentified weapon," the statement reads.

"The man died on the spot from his wounds. The deceased has been identified as a former member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ilya Kiva," the ICR confirmed.

The Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate had earlier officially stated that Kiva had been killed, calling him a traitor.

In its press release, the Russian Investigative Committee said that a group of the most experienced investigators and forensic experts had joined the investigation, and that all possible versions of the incident were being worked out. Russian investigators have not yet named the possible organizers of the assassination attempt.

Kiva left Ukraine in 2022. In mid-November of this year, the Lychakivsky Court of Lviv sentenced him to 14 years in prison in absentia. The former member of the Verkhovna Rada from the OPFL party was charged with treason, incitement to hatred, calls for the seizure of power and aggressive war, and public use of the symbols of the communist totalitarian regime.

It was known that Kiva was on the territory of Russia. He was put on the international wanted list.

Before joining the OPFL, Kiva was a communist, then he ran for president from the Socialist Party. In 2014-2015, he took part in a military operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, calling for "burning cotton wool" and all those who supported pro-Russian referendums.

Kiva headed one of the regional branches of the Right Sector, was an adviser to the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov, and headed the department for combating drug-related crimes of the National Police of Ukraine. However, shortly before the Russian invasion, Kiva left Ukraine, and after it began, he expressed support for Moscow's actions.