War in Ukraine: Ukraine: Politician shot dead and new territorial losses

After the assassination attempt on the ultra-nationalist politician Iryna Farion in western Ukraine, the leadership in Kiev has not ruled out a Russian lead. “All versions are being investigated, including the one that leads to Russia,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Farion, who fought for the Ukrainian language and had problems with her country’s judiciary because of her anti-Russian statements, was shot in the head in front of her home in Lviv. The 60-year-old died in hospital on Friday, according to authorities. There was initially no information about the possible perpetrator.

Zelensky said that the footage from all surveillance cameras would be evaluated, witnesses would be questioned and several parts of the city would be searched. National police and secret service forces were deployed to track down the perpetrator. Zelensky expressed his condolences to the relatives of Farion, who was also a member of parliament for the right-wing nationalist Svoboda party in the Verkhovna Rada in Kiev for a time.

Farion fought against Russian language in Ukraine

The philologist Farion had fought against the Russian language, which is widespread in Ukraine, with radical statements. Her party Svoboda therefore suspects a Russian trace in the murder case. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko also sees a connection between the assassination and Farion’s social activities. “The basic versions that are currently being considered are personal hostility, social and political activities of Ms. Farion. We do not rule out that this is a contract killing,” the minister wrote on Telegram.

Satisfaction in Moscow

Farion also had trouble with the Ukrainian judiciary because of statements directed against the Russian-speaking population. Among other things, the university professor had sharply criticized the fact that many Ukrainian soldiers on the front line continued to speak their native language, Russian. She said she even bought drones herself to fight against the Russian war of aggression.

Farion was often criticized for having divided Ukrainian society. Russian state propaganda, however, welcomed the news of the politician’s death. “Iryna Farion, who dreamed of the ‘complete elimination’ of the Russian-speaking population, has been eliminated. God will sort things out there without us,” wrote Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian state television channel RT.

Civil rights activists see Russian universities under pressure

Meanwhile, the Moscow leadership continues to stifle any possible source of criticism because of the war in Ukraine. According to civil rights activists, this also applies to universities. They are under greater political pressure due to the repression in Russia.

The Molnija organization, which campaigns for student rights, has recorded significantly more cases of forced expulsions since the war began in 2022. Students are being removed from universities for criticizing the war or for other political motives. A study on university freedom in Russia lists several cases in 2023 in which lecturers were also dismissed or punished for political reasons. However, there are no exact figures.

According to official figures, around 4.3 million students study at around 1,000 universities and colleges in Russia. Colleges are one of the most sensitive areas of society, said journalist Vera Ryklina from the media project “Strana i mir” at an event organized by the German Sakharov Society.

Russian troops report further advance

Meanwhile, in the particularly hotly contested Donbass in eastern Ukraine, Kiev’s troops have suffered new territorial losses. The Russian armed forces announced a further advance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. The town of Krasnohorivka (Russian: Krasnogorowka) northwest of the regional capital Donetsk, which was annexed by Moscow, has been almost completely captured with the exception of a few streets, reported the state news agency Tass, citing military sources.

According to reports, Ukrainian soldiers also surrendered and were taken prisoner. The Russian military also reported the capture of two villages in the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. The Russian information could not be independently verified.

However, the pro-government Ukrainian military channel Deep State confirmed the Russian advance in Krasnohorivka and other areas. For example, the village of Progress in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region, which had been fought over for three months, was occupied by Russian troops. There was no official confirmation from Kiev of the territorial losses.

For more than two years, Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression with Western military aid. About a fifth of the country is occupied by Russian troops. Russia had declared the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to be its territory, in violation of international law – but does not have complete control over any of them.