A ‘traitor’ Ukrainian
politician who switched sides to back Vladimir Putin when he ordered the
invasion of Ukraine is said to have been blasted to death with a shotgun while
his wife was fatally stabbed at their home in the occupied Kherson region.
Oleksiy Kovalyov, 33, a senior
official in charge of agriculture in the Moscow-appointed military-civil
administration in Kherson, was killed with a pump action shotgun at his
residence in the city of Hola Prystan on Sunday.
His wife, 38, was also stabbed
and her throat slit in the attack before she died in hospital, local media
report.
Russian officials said they
would probe the attack, the latest in a series of apparent assassinations of
Moscow-backed officials in occupied areas.
Russian officials said they
would probe the attack, the latest in a series of apparent assassinations of
Moscow-backed officials in occupied areas. Pictured: Kovalyov (left) at a
friend’s wedding party
The couple are believed to
have been assassinated by a hit squad, local media reports.
After an earlier failed
assassination bid, Kovalyov had defiantly told his Ukrainian enemies: ‘You
won’t stop me.’
Ukrainian official Serhiy
Khlan announced: ‘Former MP and traitor Oleksiy Kovalyov has been killed.’
A Telegram channel run by
Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko confirmed: ‘The traitor, collaborator
and former People’s Deputy Oleksiy Kovalyov was shot dead in his own house.
‘The occupiers have begun
intensive searches and document checks. Be careful, Ukrainians.’
