Converted pistol used to kill Ukrainian professor Iryna Farion: sport cartridge case found at scene

An investigation is underway into the murder of Iryna Farion, the linguist, professor at Lviv Polytechnic National University and former Ukrainian MP. The killer is believed to have shot Farion from a distance of about 1.5-2 metres using a converted pistol. A sport cartridge case was found at the scene.

Source: a briefing at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

Quote from a law enforcement official: "The investigation believes that the murder was committed using a converted pistol. When we examined his [the suspect’s] phone, we found internet search results for converted weapons. So far we have not established where he looked for the cartridges or where he got them, but there is a clue – an 18-year-old boy was interested in such weapons, and was looking for them, specifically for a starting gun. Just like [he was looking for] a panama hat."   

Details: Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the police headed to the scene of the crime as soon as they were informed about the shooting. Klymenko himself was present at the crime scene that night.

Quote: "We conducted several investigative experiments concerning this crime – who committed it and how they did it. We were at the crime scene, we saw where the body was lying and where the perpetrator was. This week we found out everything about the suspect’s life. You know his full name and that he’s been detained. Law enforcement has done a colossal amount of work.

A 9x18 bullet has been found, as well as a sport cartridge case. It’s now being examined. A million of these cartridges were procured in 2017-18. This is a specific bullet, not designed to kill. We need to establish where it was acquired – possibly on the black market. It may have been bought in advance."

Details: The gun has not yet been found.

Law enforcement officers have posted videos and photos of the suspect, detailing the routes he took, information about the place where he stayed in Lviv, and information from his mobile phone.

Klymenko said a photo taken by a bystander had helped in the search. A woman had taken a photo of the suspect, wearing glasses, near entrance No. 6 of the apartment building where Iryna Farion lived.

The police added that 900 witnesses have been questioned, 22 forensic tests have been ordered, over 80 individuals with a similar appearance have been checked out, and footage from 170 CCTV cameras has been analysed.

The police stressed that it has been established that "it was this individual who committed the crime".

Law enforcement discovered that the suspect had lived in three different places in Lviv, as evidenced by CCTV footage, documents from lettings agents, rent payment receipts and data from his mobile phone.

It was also established that the suspect had walked into a Nova Poshta post office to collect a box containing belongings that he had sent to himself from Dnipro to Lviv.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said the murder was committed behind a "white silicate building". CCTV footage shows the suspect walking up to the crime scene a few seconds before committing the murder.

Farion, who was reportedly waiting for a taxi at the time, was relaxed and sensed no threat. The killer approached her until he was 1.5-2 metres away. 

The investigation reports that the suspect fled the crime scene, and two days later he was caught on CCTV at the railway station as he was leaving for the city of Dnipro. There is also video footage from Dnipro railway station.

The suspect was detained in Dnipro, where he lived with his mother. He had screenshots, photos of Farion and instructions from the KGB on his phone, and his internet search history contained searches for photos and information about other politicians. Law enforcement officers have speculated that the suspect may have been preparing for his next operation.

A "farewell note" was found on his phone in case something went wrong.

The Prosecutor’s Office is currently preparing a request for the perpetrator to be remanded in custody without bail as a pre-trial restriction.

Read more on the topic: Iryna Farion murder: details of the assassination, lines of enquiry, and why the Lviv professor was so controversial

Background:

• An assassination attempt was made on former Ukrainian MP Iryna Farion on Masaryk Street in Lviv on the evening of 19 July. Later that night, Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi and Ukraine’s National Police reported that Farion had died in hospital after being shot.
• On 20 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had received the latest reports on Farion’s murder and all lines of enquiry are being investigated, including the theory that Russia and its secret services were involved.
• The National Police have put a man who may have been involved in the murder on the wanted list.
• Iryna Farion was buried in the city of Lviv.
• Investigators believe that Farion’s murder required at least a month of preparation, and that the perpetrator may have had accomplices.
• On the evening of 24 July, Russian Telegram channels posted a video purporting to be of Farion’s murder, as well as a "manifesto of a Ukrainian autonomous revolutionary racist" who claimed responsibility for the murder. Ukrainian law enforcement officials said they were investigating the video.
• On 25 July, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported that law enforcement officers in Dnipro were completing procedural actions against the 18-year-old detainee, after which he would be taken to Lviv.
• Slidstvo.Info journalists identified the suspect as Viacheslav Zinchenko. Their reports indicate that Zinchenko played for a Dnipro football team at the local young people’s sports school in 2023 and had competed in the Pulse tournament as a member of the Juniors team a month prior to Farion’s murder.

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