Court remanded the suspect in Parubiy’s murder into custody: he pleaded guilty and is awaiting an exchange
2 September 2025 14:27
The Galician District Court of Lviv has imposed a pre-trial restraint on 52-year-old Lviv resident Mykhailo Scelnikov, who is suspected of murdering MP and former Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy.
This was reported from the courtroom by a Hromadske correspondent, [Komersant] reports.
The court sent the man to a Lviv pre-trial detention center for 60 days without bail. The suspect himself did not object to this decision.
Guilty plea and motives
At the hearing, Scelnikov pleaded guilty and stated that his actions were “revenge against the Ukrainian authorities”. At the same time, he rejected reports of possible blackmail by Russian special services, emphasizing that he acted independently.
The suspect also expressed a desire to be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war in the future, as he said he wanted to find the body of his missing son.
When asked by the court why he chose Andriy Parubiy as a victim, Sselnikov replied: “He was nearby”.
He added that if he had lived in Vinnytsia, Petro Poroshenko could have been his target.
Classification of the crime
The Lviv resident was notified of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- ч. 1 of Article 115 – premeditated murder;
- ч. 1 of Art. 263 – illegal handling of weapons.
What is known about the murder
Former Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy was killed in Lviv on the afternoon of August 30. An unknown man fired about eight shots at the politician with a short-barreled firearm. Parubiy died on the spot from his wounds.
The attacker fled, and a special operation “Siren” was launched in the city. On the night of September 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the suspect had been detained.
According to the head of the National Police, Ivan Vyhivskyi, Scelnikov had been preparing for the crime in advance, tracking the politician’s movements and waiting for the right moment to attack. After the murder, he tried to hide in the Khmelnytsky region.
Vyhivskyi also stated that the crime was not accidental and that there was a “Russian trace” in the case.
