Ukrainian lawmaker found dead in central Kyiv

A Ukrainian lawmaker has been found dead from a gunshot to the head at his office in central Kyiv, the Interior Ministry of Ukraine confirmed.

Valery Davydenko, 47, an independent member of parliament, was found dead in the bathroom of his office with a gunshot wound to the head. A gun was discovered next to his body.

“A complex of urgent investigative and operational measures is being carried out to clarify the circumstances of the lawmaker’s death,” Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook.

No further details have been provided at this time.

During the 2019 snap parliamentary elections, Davydenko won a seat through his home single-member district in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv Oblast. He later joined the 17-member Dovira (“Trust”) faction in the Verkhovna Rada.

In parliament, Davydenko specialized in legislation concerning the agrarian sector. He was a member of the economic development committee.

It was Davydenko’s second time in parliament. In 2014, he won the same single-member constituency in Chernihiv Oblast as an independent. Davydenko soon joined the governing 132-member Petro Poroshenko Bloc affiliated with former President Poroshenko.

In 2013, he also briefly served as deputy head of the agrarian ministry under President Viktor Yanukovych.

Prior to entering politics, Davydenko headed the agricultural company Agrodim for nine years.

The National Police has not yet made a statement on the circumstances of Davydenko’s death at this time.