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Russian MP: Western media notice Ukraine’s political opposition purge

A report in Italian La Republica devoted to this week’s killings of Ukrainian journalists and also a former Ukrainian MP says someone has been systematically murdering the enemies of government

Alexey Pushkov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

Alexey Pushkov

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

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Kiev authorities continue killing those who tell the truth — DPR head

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The Western media have started paying attention to the purge of the political opposition in Ukraine, a senior Russian lawmaker Alexey Pushkov said on Friday.

"[They] are coming to an understanding," Pushkov, who heads the foreign affairs committee of the Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, wrote in his Twitter microblog.

Italy’s La Republica has published an article devoted to this week’s killings of Ukrainian journalists Oles Buzina and Sergey Sukhobok, and also a former Ukrainian MP, Oleg Kalashnikov.

The report notes that "the ruthless operations on purging all the types of political opposition" in the country come "amid silence of Western media." It says "someone has been systematically murdering all the enemies of the Ukrainian government."

The newspaper also says that the "wave of an uncontrolled terror in Ukraine augurs ill."

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Sergey Sukhobok, known for his oppositional views, was killed overnight to April 13. Sukhobok, a native of the war-torn Donbas region, had been working as a journalist since 1998.

Oleg Kalashnikov, a former MP from the opposition Party of Regions, was killed in a similar attack at his home as he entered the premises on Wednesday. Kalashnikov was a known organizer of anti-government protests, recently calling for celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. The party said that shortly before the murder Kalashnikov had received threats in connection with his political activities.

Oles Buzina, a prominent Ukrainian journalist and essayist, was shot dead near his home in Kiev on Thursday afternoon. Buzina, 45, was a former editor-in-chief of the Segodnya newspaper and was also well known for his books "Vampire Taras Shevchenko" and "The Union of Plough and Trident".

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Ukraine Alexey Pushkov Journalism

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