Three of the latest victims of assassination are: Oles Buzina, the former chief editor of Segodnya newspaper, killed on April 16 with a TT pistol in the courtyard of his apartment building; former lawmaker Oleh Kalashnikov, killed outside the door of his apartment building on April 15; and journalist Serhiy Sukhobok, who worked for pro-Ukrainian publications, was killed on April 13.
The killings – combined with terrorist threats that have shut down metro stations for brief periods in recent days – are fueling speculation, including by Anton Gerashchenko, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament and a former aide to the interior minister.
The murders of Buzina and Kalashnikov “are similar,” Gerashchenko said. “I don’t rule out that these murders were organized by Russian intelligence agencies to creat an atmosphere of terror and hysteria in Kyiv.”
Buzina was criticized for his anti-Ukrainian views and claims to have left his job last month as editor-in-chief of Segodnya, the largest circulation newspaper in the nation, because he was not allowed to criticize the current Ukrainian government.
Kalashnikov angered people for his incessant recordings on Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk Street in support of then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s political persecution of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. He also was involved in organizing demonstrations to counter the EuroMaidan Revolution, which toppled Yanukovych on Feb. 22, 2014.
We know less about Sukhobok, only that he was known for his pro-Ukrainian views.
Whatever the facts, we hope that investigators and politicians drop the speculation and devote their energies to solving these crimes.
With all the bloodshed during revolution and war, violence that has claimed more than 6,000 lives and counting, the only way to stop the vicious cycle of hatred and murder is for successful investigations, prosecutions and trials of those responsible for the killings and those who ordered the deaths.
