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Armenian citizen suspected of murder of former MP of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine detained

09 June 2025 15:24 (UTC +04:00)

A suspect has been detained in connection with the murder of former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Ilya Kyva, APA reports, citing foreign media.

According to the investigation's version, Araik Amirkhanyan provided the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) with information about the victim’s whereabouts. Later, a hitman shot and killed Ilya Kyva near Moscow in 2023.

An Armenian citizen, 44-year-old Araik Amirkhanyan, is suspected in the murder of former Ukrainian MP Ilya Kyva. He is considered a former “largest contractor” of "Ukravtodor" (Ukraine's State Agency of Automobile Roads). There was not even a need to detain Araik specifically: when investigators working on Kyva’s murder case tracked him down, it turned out that Amirkhanyan had already been sent to Pre-Trial Detention Facility No. 8 in the Moscow region earlier in May in connection with a bribery case. According to sources, investigators believe that Amirkhanyan gained Kyva’s trust, followed him, and then passed information about his residence to SBU operatives.

Note that Ilya Kyva, who was accused in Ukraine of treason and several other charges, was murdered on December 6, 2023. His body was found face down in the snow on the grounds of the "Velich Country Club" hotel in the village of Suponyevo.