LVIV, Ukraine — Former Ukrainian parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy was shot dead in the western city of Lviv on Saturday, authorities said, in an attack that has triggered a massive manhunt for the gunman.

Unverified footage circulating online appeared to show a man disguised as a courier approaching Parubiy on the street, drawing a weapon from a yellow delivery bag, and opening fire before fleeing on an e-bike.

Ukrainian prosecutors said Parubiy, 54, was struck multiple times and died at the scene. Seven shell casings were recovered, law enforcement officials told the BBC.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the killing as a “terrible murder” and expressed condolences to Parubiy’s family.

A special police operation, codenamed Siren, has been launched to track down and arrest the suspect.

“All necessary forces and means are being deployed,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.

Parubiy was a pivotal figure in Ukraine’s 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests, organizing the movement’s self-defense brigades during mass demonstrations that toppled pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

He later served as secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council at the onset of the Russia-backed separatist war in eastern Ukraine and during Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

After Yanukovych’s ouster, Parubiy rose through politics and was elected speaker of parliament in 2016, a post he held until 2019.

In 2022, he joined territorial defense forces while continuing to serve as a lawmaker.

Tributes poured in following his death. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Parubiy “a patriot and statesman who made an enormous contribution to Ukraine’s freedom, independence, and sovereignty.”

Former President Petro Poroshenko described him as “a great man and a true friend,” adding that his assassination was “a shot fired at the heart of Ukraine.”

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing. — BBC