Russian neo-Nazis allegedly claim responsibility for Farion’s murder
25 July 2024 11:32
The Russian neo-Nazi group NS/WP has allegedly claimed responsibility for the murder of Ukrainian linguist, public figure and former MP Iryna Farion. This was reported by the Russian Telegram channel ASTRA, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The Telegram channel of the neo-Nazi movement NS/WP (National-Socialism/White Power) has posted a video of the alleged moment of the linguist’s murder. The ten-second video shows footage from the street, in which a woman’s scream and the sound of a gunshot can be heard.
The channel itself was created only on 27 April, and it is difficult to make out what is happening in the video, as the filmmaker covers the camera with his finger almost all the time.
ASTRA compared the video with the alleged murder of Farion and the footage from the scene of her death and found the cars to be identical.
“However, it is still premature to draw unequivocal conclusions about Farion’s murder by a far-right activist,”
– the group writes.
In addition, a manifesto written in Russian was added to the video. It calls Farion a “pest” and a “racial traitor”.
The author motivated the murder of the politician by the fact that she allegedly “incited hatred on the basis of language within Ukrainian society”.
The National Police is checking the video previously disseminated by Russian media regarding the murder of Ukrainian linguist Iryna Farion. This was stated by the spokesperson for the National Police of Ukraine, Olena Berezhna, in a comment to RBC-Ukraine.
“Yes, the police are analysing the video and studying it to see if it is of interest to the investigation,” she said.
What is known about NS/WP?
NS/WP is a neo-Nazi extremist group operating in Russia. The name of the movement stands for National-Socialism/White Power.
The group was formed in the early 2000s and is remembered for attacking people of non-white appearance. Members of the movement also criticised Christianity and were in conflict with other Russian nationalists and monarchists.
In 2006, one of the movement’s most famous symbols appeared – brass knuckles in a laurel wreath. However, by 2014, the movement’s popularity had waned.
The NS/WP revived in 2020. In Russia, its members were accused of attempting to assassinate propagandists Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonian. It was also alleged that they were involved in the arson attacks on military enlistment offices in Russia.
What is known about Farion’s murder
On 19 July, former MP and linguist Iryna Farion died in hospital after an assassination attempt.
Around 19:30, an unknown person shot Iryna Farion in the head near her house on Masaryk Street in Lviv. She was admitted to hospital in critical condition.
The police in Lviv region have put a suspect in the murder of linguist and public figure Iryna Farion on the wanted list. His photo and video from surveillance cameras were posted on the police’s social media pages.
Farion was buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery on the central alley (field 22, near the grave of Volodymyr Ivasyuk). Thousands of people gathered to see the linguist to her final resting place.
