Russia Selenskyj: Investigation underway after murder of politician
Following the fatal shooting of the ultra-nationalist politician Iryna Farion in western Ukraine, the leadership in Kiev is not ruling out the possibility of Russian involvement.
21.07.2024, 05:06
SDA
"All versions are being investigated, including the one that leads to Russia," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
Farion, who was also in trouble with the Ukrainian judiciary for her anti-Russian statements, was shot in the head outside her home in Lviv (Lviv) on Friday evening. According to the authorities, the 60-year-old died shortly afterwards in hospital. There was initially no information on the possible perpetrator.
The footage from all available surveillance cameras was being evaluated, witnesses were being questioned and several districts were being combed, said Selenskyj. Forces from the national police and secret services were being deployed to track down the perpetrator. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who had also not ruled out a Russian lead, the heads of the police and the secret service as well as representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office were in Lviv to monitor the investigation. Selensky expressed his condolences to the relatives of Farion, who had also been a member of parliament for the right-wing nationalist Svoboda party in the Supreme Rada in Kiev.
Farion fought against the Russian language in Ukraine
Philologist Farion had fought against the Russian language, which is widely spoken in Ukraine, with radical statements. Her party Svoboda therefore suspects a Russian lead in the murder case. Interior Minister Klymenko 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 the possibility that it was a contract killing," the minister wrote on Telegram.
Possible Russian trail and satisfaction in Moscow
Farion was also in trouble with the Ukrainian judiciary for statements directed against the Russian-speaking population. For example, she temporarily lost her job at the university where she taught Ukrainian following protests by students. Among other things, the professor had sharply criticized the fact that many Ukrainian soldiers at the front continued to speak their native language, Russian. According to her own statements, she also bought drones herself for the fight against the Russian war of aggression.
Farion was often criticized for having divided Ukrainian society. Russian state propaganda, however, greeted the news of the politician's death with satisfaction. "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 Simonjan, 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 due to the war in Ukraine. According to civil rights activists, this also applies to universities. They see universities and colleges under greater political pressure as a result of the repression in Russia.
The organization Molniya, which campaigns for students' rights, has recorded significantly more cases of forced exmatriculation since the start of the war in 2022. Students are being removed from universities for criticizing the war or for other political motives. A study on freedom of higher education in Russia lists several cases in 2023 in which lecturers were also dismissed or punished for political reasons. However, there are no exact figures on the development of university expulsions for political reasons.
According to official figures, around 4.3 million students study at around 1,000 universities and colleges in Russia. Universities 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. Russia is preparing itself for a long-lasting conflict with the West. University policy shows what kind of society the Russian state under Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is striving for.
Militarized studies and reprimands for participating in demonstrations
This image includes militarization and ideological indoctrination, explained the exiled Russian sociologist Dmitri Dubrovsky, an author of the study on university freedom for the Cisrus research center in the USA. Military training had returned and subjects such as "Fundamentals of Russian Statehood" or "Religions of Russia" had been introduced for patriotic education. Secret service officers moved into university administrations. Dubrowski said that students and lecturers who were loyal to the party line scoured the social media accounts of their fellow students or colleagues for dissenting opinions.
Students are often expelled from the university if they take part in unauthorized demonstrations, reports the organization Molnija. This is justified with a violation of the university's rules of conduct. Students who are involved in social or trade union activities or work as journalists are particularly at risk. Demonstrations are still banned in Russia on the grounds of protection against coronavirus.
Molnija explains that in the years before the war, only a handful of cases of university expulsions for political reasons were known. In the war years 2022 and 2023, there were several dozen. Dismissed students are largely unprotected, said a lawyer from Molnija anonymously at the Sakharov Society. They have no jobs, government agencies refuse to contact them and they are threatened with being called up for military service. Thousands of critical students and lecturers have fled abroad because of the war.
