KIEV, UKRAINE — A former Russian lawmaker who fled to Ukraine was shot and killed on a busy street in central Kiev on Thursday.
Denis Voronenkov, 45, who had criticized Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, was shot outside the Premier Palace hotel three or four times in the head and neck before dying at the scene, The Guardian cited Kiev’s head of police as saying.
Police said the assailant, who was armed with a handgun, died in the hospital after being shot in the chest and head by Voronenkov’s bodyguard, Reuters reported.
Voronnenkov’s bodyguard was also wounded and transported to the hospital, reported the Guardian.
The ex-lawmaker fled to Ukraine five months ago and was assisting Ukrainian officials to build a treason case against Ukraine’s pro-Russia former president, Victor Yanukovich, according to Reuters.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko called the killing “an act of state terrorism on the part of Russia.”
Russia has denied any involvement in the shooting.
“We believe that all the falsehoods that can already be heard about much-hyped Russian involvement are absurd,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Reuters.
