Ukraine’s intelligence chief accuses Russia of complicity in Farion's murder

He wrote about this in Telegram.

“Today, Ukraine bid farewell to the public figure and scholar Iryna Farion. The cold-blooded murder of the famous linguist is a challenge for the entire Ukrainian society, a crime against the fundamental rights and freedoms of Ukrainians,” Budanov wrote.

He noted that the enemy is trying to use all means to divide the Ukrainian nation.

“This tragedy has once again demonstrated that the enemy is trying to use any tools to divide our nation. Therefore, we have no right to forget that despite our differences in political positions, the right to an opinion and the right to defend our beliefs is sacred. This is the foundation of our freedom, and anyone who encroaches on it must be punished,” the military intelligence chief said.

Budanov believes that the scholar was killed for her Ukrainian position.

“Iryna Farion was killed for her Ukrainian position. We have no right to tolerate such crimes and will continue to defend Ukraine both at the front and inside our country,” Budanov added.

Farion's murder

• On July 19, at about 19:30, an unknown assailant shot Iryna Farion in Lviv. The Lviv regional police confirmed this and reported that a special police operation was underway to detain him.

• Iryna Farion was taken to St. Panteleimon Hospital of the First Territorial Medical Association of Lviv. The woman was in critical condition, late in the evening of July 19, doctors reported that she was in a brain coma and on artificial lung ventilation. Doctors fought for her life to the last.

• On Espreso, Lviv City Council member Andirian Hutnyk provided details of the attempted assassination of Iryna Farion. He said that an unknown young man of 20-25 years old "was wearing some kind of hat". He fired a shot at her head with a firearm, the bullet hit her temple, the shot was from a gun without a silencer.

• Subsequently, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that the attack on Iryna Farion was classified as an attempted murder. The Prosecutor General's Office noted that a pre-trial investigation had been launched.

• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also reacted to the attempted murder of Iryna Farion. He said that all the necessary forces of the National Police of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine are involved to establish the circumstances of this crime. "Obviously, any violence deserves only condemnation and everyone who is guilty of this attack must be held fully accountable," Zelenskyy wrote.
• Former MP, linguist and professor at Lviv Polytechnic Iryna Farion died in hospital in Lviv. The shot to her head on the evening of 19 July was fatal.
• On July 22, the former MP was buried in Lviv.