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Ex-Russian MP’s suspected assassin’s ‘double’ pops up in Ukraine

Earlier, Kiev confirmed that the murder was committed by a Ukrainian citizen Pavel Parshov who served in the country’s National Guard
The site of Denis Voronenkov's murder, Kiev Piotr Sivkov/TASS
The site of Denis Voronenkov's murder, Kiev
© Piotr Sivkov/TASS

KIEV, March 24. /TASS/. Ukrainian citizen Pavel Parshov, deemed the suspected killer of former Russian State Duma lawmaker Denis Voronenkov, is alive and is confused about the situation, Ukraine’s Vesti newspaper wrote on Friday citing the man’s lawyer.

The lawyer said Parshov called her on Thursday saying that he was being attacked by journalists in a social network. "He does not understand what is happening. When he was on his way, I found out from our mass media reports that he is a 'killer' and he is already ‘dead.’ When he arrived, he was surprised," lawyer Elena Krechetnikova said.

Earlier, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, Anton Gerashchenko disclosed the name of Voronenkov’s murderer. He said the killing was committed by Ukrainian citizen Pavel Parshov, born in Sevastopol in 1988, who served in the country’s National Guard.

Media reports said the suspected assassin of Voronenkov had been placed on a wanted list by Ukraine’s law enforcers for illegal activity such as fraudulent deals and money laundering. The information on Parshov is right, and Ukraine’s law enforcers will have to find out if this is just a coincidence or the killer "stole" the biography of another man.

Voronenkov, the former State Duma member from the Communist Party, was gunned down in a shootout near the entrance to Premier Palace Hotel in downtown Kiev on Thursday. The attacker approached him and fired several shots with a handgun. Voronenkov’s bodyguard returned fire. The bodyguard and the attacker were wounded and taken to hospital. The killer died in hospital hours later.

In December 2014, Voronenkov was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in connection with criminal proceedings over the seizure of a building in central Moscow. In October 2016, Voronenkov fled to Ukraine. In February this year, he was formally charged with fraud and put on an international wanted list.