The investigation into the murder of the well-known Ukrainian politician and public figure Andriy Parubiy is ongoing; however, law enforcement has yet to locate the weapon used in the crime on August 30 of this year. This was reported by Oleksiy Umanyets, the deputy head of the Lviv regional prosecutor’s office.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Search for the weapon and the progress of investigative actions
Law enforcement continues to thoroughly examine the locations indicated by the suspect. As Oleksiy Umanyets notes, the suspect has not changed his testimony and points to several possible sites in the forested area, but does not specify the exact location where the weapon was left. At the crime scene, investigators found eight shell casings, four of which struck the body of the deceased politician.
On September 1, law enforcement detained 52-year-old Mykhailo Stselnikov, a resident of Lviv, in the Khmelnytskyi region. The man confessed to the crime, explaining his actions as a desire for revenge. According to him, the motive was the disappearance of his son, who has been missing since 2023.
Motives and the progress of the investigation
At the same time, the ex-wife of the suspect reported that their son voluntarily went to fight and had not maintained a relationship with his father due to a serious conflict. This information was also confirmed by the son’s comrades, who noted that the connection between father and son was lost even before the boy’s disappearance.
“Currently, the search for the weapon is ongoing. At this moment, people are working in the areas indicated by the suspect in the murder. He has not changed his testimony. He points to more than one location, and the search continues. He does not specify the exact place where he did this (discarded the weapon – ed.), it is a section of forested area,” says Umanyets.
The Halytskyi District Court of Lviv has reclassified the case as intentional murder. Considering the collected evidence, the legal classification of the criminal offense has been changed to part 1 of article 263 (illegal handling of weapons) and article 112 (attempt on the life of a people’s deputy of Ukraine in connection with his state or public activities) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Such offenses carry a penalty of imprisonment from 10 to 15 years or life imprisonment.
During a search of the suspect’s residence, investigators discovered ammunition, military awards, two pyrotechnic devices, 50 shell casings, 85 containers for plastic casings, as well as a sheet with excerpts from legislative articles, flash drives, mobile phones, 33 orders and medals from the USSR and Ukraine, 25 badges, and metal stars. Mykhailo Stselnikov, 52, has been placed in custody for 60 days without the right to bail.