The suspect in Parubiy's murder turned himself in to the Russians — SBU
According to the SBU, Mykhailo Stselnikov, the suspect in the murder of Ukrainian politician Andriy Parubiy, initiated contact with the Russian side on his own and offered his services.
This was reported by Andriy Shvets, head of the SBU’s Main Investigation Department, in an interview with Censor.NET.
"He actually offered his services to the Russians himself, adding that he was ready to travel to Russia to search for his son among the prisoners of war. They, in turn, promised to search for his son’s body near Bakhmut—in the area where he disappeared—and to help bury him," Shvets noted.
The suspect’s correspondence with his Russian handler made it possible to reconstruct the course of their interaction from the beginning until the moment of his arrest.
"In his messages, he did not hide his negative attitude toward Ukrainian politicians, whom he considered responsible for starting the war. And he himself reported that he could be of some use to the Russians. He was asked which well-known politicians lived in Lviv and whether he could track down any of them to find out where they lived. The first person he named was Andriy Parubiy. He knew where Parubiy lived because a friend of his, with whom he worked on repairing household appliances, lived on a neighboring street. Therefore, he said he could follow him, gather information about his life, and then, in principle, eliminate him," Shvets added.
According to him, preparations for Parubiy’s murder took a year.
"He conducted reconnaissance and acquired the tools and equipment he needed to commit the crime: he bought a car, an electric bicycle, a helmet, a Glovo bag, clothing, and cell phones," noted the SBU representative.
He also reported that the detainee did not have a very good relationship with his son, as the young man was pro-Ukrainian, while his father held pro-Russian views. “There was even a situation where, at his son’s wedding, he—like the other guests—was asked to wear a vyshyvanka. And he was the only one who didn’t come in a vyshyvanka and spoke Russian. He was asked to leave," Shvets said.
In addition, data from the seized phone confirms that in his correspondence with his son, the suspect did not hide his pro-Russian views, just as he did not in his Telegram channel chats with Russians, Shvets added.
The family of the murdered Parubiyis demanding 15 million hryvnias in moral damages.
As a reminder, the SBU has referred the case of Andriy Parubiy’s murder to court.
On August 30, 2025, the National Police reported that Andriy Parubiy, a well-known Ukrainian public and political figure, had been killed in Lviv.
