The former speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Andrii Parubii, was killed by an individual who shot him several times and fled on a bicycle, police reported.

The politician, who was a member of the former president's European Solidarity opposition party Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko, died in the city of Lviv, west of Kyiv and near the border with Poland.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky confirmed the crime and described it as “terrible.”

The president also assured that “all necessary forces and means have been deployed to investigate the incident and find the person responsible.”

Initial reports indicate that the killer was riding a bicycle and carrying a backpack similar to those used by food delivery men, reported the BBC's Ukrainian service.

A well-known politician

The motives for the crime and the identity of the perpetrator are unknown. However, Lviv’s chief prosecutor, Mykola Meret, said all possible motives for the shooting, including possible Russian involvement, were being investigated.

Parubii, 54, was a veteran nationalist and pro-European lawmaker.

He participated in both the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013-2014 Maidan, movements that sought to draw Ukraine closer to the West and away from the Kremlin’s influence.

After the overthrow of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Parubii was appointed secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, a post he held until Russia occupied Crimea, the Ukrainian daily Kyiv Independent reported.

He was later elected to the Rada (parliament) and enlisted in the Ukrainian army after the invasion.

“This is terror,” the Solidarity party denounced European Union in a statement, in which it described the late politician as “one of the founders of modern Ukraine… upright and decent, patriotic and intelligent.”

For his part, Ruslan Stefanchuk, current speaker of parliament,He called Parubii a “consistent defender of the Ukrainian state.”

“Ukraine has lost a great son, but his cause will live on as long as our state exists,” Poroshenko added.

New exchanges of fire

The assassination of the legislator nearly coincided with a new wave of “massive” attacks against Ukraine by Russia.

During the early hours of Saturday, dozens of missiles and drones fell on 14 provinces of the country, the most affected being Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk, in southern and central eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military authorities assured that they had neutralized more than 500 of the 600 devices launched by the Kremlin forces. However, those that managed to break through the air defenses left at least one woman dead and around 30 injured, including three children, according to emergency services. Moscow said its airstrikes were directed against Ukrainian missile infrastructure and aviation. "The objectives of the attack were achieved; all designated targets were hit," read a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, images released by the Ukrainian authorities show several damaged residential buildings. Air raid sirens also sounded again in Kyiv, the capital, during the night of Friday and early Saturday. But Ukrainian citizens were not the only ones who spent a sleepless night fearing the arrival of rockets and drones. A similar scene was repeated in several Russian provinces. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have shot down about 86 drones in different areas, including the Black Sea and the regions of Rostov, Bryansk, and the annexed Crimea, with no injuries or consequences reported.

However, Ukrainian authorities claimed to have hit two oil refineries in Krasnodar and Syzran.

In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian General Staff reported “numerous explosions and a fire” at the Krasnodar plant.

The extent of the alleged damage to the facilities, which supply various fuels, including aviation fuel, to the Russian armed forces, is still unknown.

More weapons on the way

Amid this new wave of Russian attacks against Ukraine, the US has decided to authorize the sale of new weapons to Kyiv.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Washington approved the sale of arms worth US$ 300 million, including Patriot systems and the purchase and maintenance of Elon Musk's Starlink system.

“Patriot air defense systems are vital to Ukraine,”the ministry said in a statement.

“(These systems) protect our people, our cities and our critical infrastructure from continued Russian airstrikes. We thank our American partners for their support,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, Denmark, European Union (EU) foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia to force it to the negotiating table to end the war.