The pre-trial investigation conducted by Ukrainian law enforcers suggests that the explosion, which killed journalist Pavel Sheremet, was a contract killing, the order for which came from Russia, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
“The results of the pretrial investigation into the premeditated murder of Pavel Sheremet at this stage lead to the conclusion that this crime was carefully prepared by a group of people. Investigators do not rule out that the order for the killing came from the Russian Federation,” Avakov said at a press conference in Kyiv on Feb. 8.
According to the minister, an ally of murdered Russian politician Boris Nemtsov in the Solidarnost (Solidarity) United Democratic Movement, journalist and social activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., came to Kyiv on July 17, 2016, where he asked Sheremet for help in making a film dedicated to Nemtsov.
“I draw your attention that a few days ago, after the presentation of the film, the Russian opposition politician, federal coordinator of Open Russia, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was urgently hospitalized and is in critical condition,” Avakov said.
He added that Russian doctors diagnosed Kara-Murza with acute poisoning with an unidentified substance.
