Former deputy of Russia’s State Duma who was a witness in the case against Yanukovych killed in Kyiv

This afternoon Denis Voronenkov, a former deputy of Russia’s State Duma, was killed near Premier Palace Hotel in Kyiv. Voronenkov was a witness in the case of high treason of former president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

Voronenkov was killed when he was exiting the hotel with his guard. The unknown opened fire on them, killed the former deputy and wounded the guard. The guard was able to use weapons in response and wounded the attacker. Both were hospitalized, as reported by Ukrayinska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth).

As reported by Ilya Ponomarev, another former deputy of the Russia’s State Duma and is also a witness in Yanukovych case, on his Facebook page, Voronenkov was going to a meeting with him.

Ponomarev suggested that Russian special services might have organized the murder.

Also, Ponomarev said that he is now giving testimony in the investigation.

As reported by Ukrayinska Pravda, Denis Voronenkov, a former deputy of Russia’s State Duma from the Communist Party, moved to Kyiv in October 2016. His wife Maria Maksakova, an opera singer and former deputy from the United Russia, moved to Ukraine together with him.

Voronenkov became the State Duma deputy in 2011, having held one convocation in the Russian parliament.

As stated by Meduza, the deputy was involved in at least two criminal cases in Russia: he was suspected of raiding the building in Moscow and bribery. However, they were unable to deprive the deputy immunity of Voronenkov.

In February 2017, Voronenkov said that in December 2016 he received Ukrainian citizenship.

“Now I am a citizen of Ukraine, On December 4, my powers of a deputyof the State Duma came to an end and on December 6 I became a citizen of Ukraine”, – he said in an interview with Censor publication.

Later, Yuriy Lutsenko, General Prosecutor of Ukraine, said that Voronenkov received citizenship because he had close relatives in Ukraine.

In the same interview Voronenkov said that in 2014 he did not vote for the annexation of Crimea, since he was not present in the hall and someone used his deputy card. General Prosecutor’s Office promised to verify this fact.

In January, Russian publication Kommersant reported that Voronenkov began to testify to the General Prosecutor’s Office on the case of high treason of Yanukovych.

It was pointed out that Voronenkov partially confirmed the testimony given earlier by Ilya Ponomarev, another former Russian deputy, who received a residence permit in Ukraine in the summer of 2016.

For a long time, Ponomarev was considered as one of the key witnesses in this case.

On March 3, the Russian Investigative Committee asked the Basmanny District Court to arrest in absentia Voronenkov, who is accused of fraud in Russia.