Former Ukrainian Lawmaker Defects to Russia, Gunned Down Near Moscow
KYIV, Ukraine — Ilya Kiva, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who defected to Russia, was found dead of a gunshot wound near Moscow on Wednesday, in a targeted operation claimed by Kyiv. The assassination of Kiva is the latest in a series of attacks targeting prominent supporters of the war in Russia.
Kiva, 46, had been a member of Ukraine’s parliament but fled to Russia after calling for Kyiv to surrender when the Kremlin’s troops invaded the country last year. He faced treason charges back home before being killed in Suponevo, about 250 miles southwest of Moscow.
“The liquidation of the top-ranking traitor, collaborator, and propagandist Ilya Kiva is a special operation of the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine]. The criminal was eliminated using firearms,” a Ukrainian law enforcement officer told NBC News.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, stated that Kiva was “done” and warned that “the same fate will befall other traitors of Ukraine and accomplices of Putin’s regime.” Russia’s state Investigative Committee has opened a probe on murder charges.
Kiva was known for changing his party affiliation and ideology several times and was involved in high-level corruption scandals before his defection to Russia. Despite initially being anti-Russian, he later became associated with pro-Kremlin sentiments and was a frequent participant in Russian state television talk shows, where he criticized the Ukrainian leadership.
His killing follows a series of attacks on prominent war supporters in Russia, including a car bomb that killed an official in Luhansk, a city in the Donbas region currently under Russian control.
Russian authorities have blamed Ukrainian security agencies for these attacks, while Ukraine continues to assert its role in targeting individuals it deems responsible for the conflict.