Accessibility links

Breaking News

Former Ukrainian Lawmaker Who Became Russia-Appointed Official In Kherson Region Found Dead


Oleksiy Kovalyov was found with a gunshot wound to his head and a Mossberg pump firearm that was officially registered to the former member of Ukraine's ruling Servant of the People party. (file photo)
Oleksiy Kovalyov was found with a gunshot wound to his head and a Mossberg pump firearm that was officially registered to the former member of Ukraine's ruling Servant of the People party. (file photo)

Former Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Kovalyov, who joined the Russia-imposed Kherson regional government after Russian armed forces took over parts of Ukraine's southeast, has been found dead.

An adviser to the Kyiv-controlled regional administration, Serhiy Khlan, said on August 29 that Kovalyov was found dead a day earlier in his house in the town of Hola Prystan.

Ukrainian media reports said Kovalyov was found with a gunshot wound to his head and a Mossberg pump firearm that was officially registered to the former member of Ukraine's ruling Servant of the People party. The reports also said Kovalyov's girlfriend sustained a stabbing wound and was hospitalized.

Russia-imposed authorities did not comment on the reports, but pro-Russian Telegram channels confirmed them.

Several officials appointed by Moscow to areas of Ukraine have died in recent weeks after being attacked.

Last week, Russia-imposed authorities in parts of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region said the Moscow-appointed mayor of the Russia-occupied town of Mykhaylivka, Ivan Sushko, was killed by a car bomb.

On August 6, Vitaliy Hura, a Russia-appointed deputy mayor of the Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region, was shot dead by an unidentified assailant while leaving his home while a car bomb in Kherson killed the Russia-appointed head of the directorate for youth policies at the Kherson region's administration, Dmytro Savluchenko, in late June.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG