Ukrainian 'traitor' ex-MP assassinated in Russia after he called for Putin to use weapons of mass destruction
7 December 2023, 10:38 | Updated: 7 December 2023, 10:42
A Ukrainian 'traitor' ex-MP has been assassinated in Russia after he called for Putin to use weapons of mass destruction against Kyiv.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Illia Kyva was a former Ukrainian MP who was kicked out of parliament and later defected to Russia after it launched its invasion of Ukraine last year.
His body was discovered in the Moscow suburbs on Wednesday.
Kyva had previously urged Putin to use weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine when there were growing concerns that he would use nuclear weapons.
"An unknown person fired shots at the victim from an unidentified weapon. The man died on the spot from his injuries," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Ukraine's military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said: "We can confirm that Kyva is done. Such a fate will befall other traitors of Ukraine, as well as the henchmen of the Putin regime."
He said Kyva was "one of the biggest scumbags, traitors and collaborators", adding that his death was "justice".
Russia has launched a probe into his death at a country club in Odintsovo, near Moscow. He had been living there in exile and under Putin's protection.
In April 2022, Kyva posted an image of a nuclear explosion on Telegram, writing: "REMEMBER!!! - THEY ARE AFRAID AND RESPECT ONLY POWER!!!
"Zelenskyy, his entourage and Western curators, are most afraid of a [Russian] pre-emptive strike [with] weapons of mass destruction.
"This is what can put an end to today's confrontation, not only with the Ukrainian authorities, but with the entire West which actively and already openly takes part today in the military conflict in Ukraine...
"If anyone thinks that this is not according to the rules, remember: the West wrote these rules in its own interests and only in order to more effectively destroy you."
It came after Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the West should prepare for the possibility of Putin using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
