KYIV -- Ukrainian authorities say they have detained suspects linked to the assassination of former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov.
In a statement on June 16, the National Police said that "investigative steps" including searches and detentions were conducted in the eastern city of Pavlohrad. The police did not say how many suspects were detained or identify them.
Voronenkov, a former member of the Russian State Duma who defected to Ukraine and became a critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down in broad daylight in Kyiv on March 23.
Police said the alleged killer, Crimean-born Ukrainian national Pavlo Parshov, 28, was a secret Russian agent who passed himself off as a Ukrainian soldier. Parshov died in the hospital after being shot by Voronenkov's wounded bodyguard.
Ukrainian President Petro Porioshenko called Voronenkov's killing "an act of state terrorism by Russia." Officials in Kyiv have said they believe it was one of a series of killings and attempted killings carried out in Ukraine on behalf of Russian security services.
Earlier this month, a man from Russia's Chechnya region posing as a French reporter shot and wounded a Chechen transplant to Ukraine who fought on Kyiv's side against Russia-backed militants in eastern Ukraine. The victim's wife shot the attacker.
Last July, Belarusian-born journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed in a car bombing in which authorities claim to have found Russian traces. However, they have not provided evidence to prove that to the public, and police say they are looking into all possibilities.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the attacks.
