The former speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Andriy Parubiy has been shot dead in the western city of Lviv, officials have said.
Unverified footage, purportedly of the shooting, appears to show a gunman dressed as a courier approaching Parubiy on the street and holding up a weapon as he walks behind him, before fleeing. A huge manhunt is now under way for the suspect.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Saturday's attack as a terrible murder and offered condolences to Parubiy's family.
Parubiy, 54, rose to prominence during Ukraine's Euromaidan mass protests, which advocated closer ties with the EU and brought down pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
A special operation, codenamed Siren, has now been launched by Ukrainian authorities aimed at tracking down and arresting the suspected shooter.
Ukraine's prosecutors said an unidentified gunman fired several shots at the politician and that Parubiy died on the spot. Police chief Oleksandr Shliakhovskyi mentioned the gunman had fired about eight shots from a firearm, which has not yet been identified and that the attack appeared to have been very carefully planned.
Meanwhile, Lviv's chief prosecutor Mykola Meret said all possible motives for the shooting were being investigated, including potential Russian involvement.
Parubiy was a pivotal figure in the Euromaidan movement, which began after Yanukovych's government refused to sign an association agreement with the EU in late 2013. He organized and co-ordinated Maidan's self-defence - armed teams of protesters who guarded the sprawling tent camp in the heart of the capital Kyiv. He was injured several times during clashes with Ukraine's riot police.
After Yanukovych's ouster, he became secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, during a period when Russia-armed separatists began fighting in eastern Ukraine. Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Parubiy joined Ukraine's territorial defence.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described Parubiy as a patriot and statesman who made an enormous contribution to the defence of Ukraine's freedom, independence and sovereignty.
Former President Petro Poroshenko said the killing of Parubiy was a shot fired at the heart of Ukraine, emphasizing the significant role Parubiy played in building the Ukrainian army.
