A ‘traitor’ Ukrainian politician who crossed sides to aid Putin is shot dead with a shotgun, and his wife is fatally stabbed in their captured Kherson home.
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a top agriculture official in the Kherson administration chosen by Moscow, was murdered at his home with a pump-action shotgun.
His 38-year-old wife was stabbed and her neck slashed in an assault before she died in the hospital.
It is the most recent in a string of alleged killings of officials backed by Moscow.
A ‘traitor’ Ukrainian lawmaker who supported Vladimir Putin when he ordered the invasion of Ukraine was reportedly shot dead with a shotgun while his wife was fatally stabbed at their home in the seized Kherson region.
On Sunday, Oleksiy Kovalyov, 33, a senior official in charge of agriculture in the military-civilian government in Kherson designated by Moscow, was murdered at his apartment in the city of Hola Prystan with a pump-action shotgun.
Local media indicate that his 38-year-old wife was also stabbed and had her throat slashed during the attack before she died in the hospital.
The attack is the latest in a string of suspected assassinations of Moscow-backed leaders in seized territories, according to Russian officials.
On Sunday, a pump-action shotgun was used to assassinate Oleksiy Kovalyov, 33, a senior official in charge of agriculture in the Moscow-appointed military-civil administration in Kherson. Kovalyov resided in the city of Hola Prystan.
The attack is the latest in a string of suspected assassinations of Moscow-backed leaders in seized territories, according to Russian officials. Kovalyov (left) during a friend’s wedding reception
The pair is suspected to have been murdered by a hit squad, according to local media.
After a botched murder attempt, Kovalyov boasted to his Ukrainian adversaries, “You will not stop me.”
Former Ukrainian lawmaker and traitor Oleksiy Kovalyov was assassinated, according to Ukrainian official Serhiy Khlan.
The Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko’s Telegram channel confirmed: ‘The traitor, collaborator, and former People’s Deputy Oleksiy Kovalyov was shot dead in his own home.
The occupants have initiated extensive searches and document inspections. Be careful, Ukrainians.’
Kovalyov (left) was reportedly shot dead with a shotgun, while his wife was fatally stabbed at their home in the occupied Kherson region.
The assassination of the official and his companion is the most recent murder of a number of Ukrainians who held administrative or police posts under Putin’s invading forces.
Friday, according to Russian-installed officials, a deputy chief of traffic police in the Ukrainian city of Berdyansk died in the hospital after being injured in a bombing.
Askyar Laishev, who joined the Moscow-backed Luhansk People’s Republic in 2014 as head of intelligence, was killed on August 11 in a car bombing in the war-torn city of Donbas.
Surveillance footage captures the dramatic moment Laishav’s automobile exploded while he was driving through the city.
Laishev, who had previously worked for Ukraine’s internal security service (SBU) before switching sides, escaped the car after the explosion but died in the hospital days later.
It follows last week’s murder of Putin official Ivan Sushko in Zaporizhzhia.
Vladimir Saldo, the mayor of regional capital Kherson city, was in a coma in a Moscow hospital due to suspected poisoning.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired his intelligence director and state prosecutor general, claiming scores of instances of collusion between their agencies and Russia.
In the meantime, Kovalyov was appointed vice chairman of agriculture for the most important grain region. In April, he had moved sides.
Kovalyov blamed the SBU, the Ukrainian secret service, for a car explosion and boasted in a video: ‘I am alive and well. I intend to return to work.
An earlier attempt on the life of Kovalyov, who was a member of Kyiv’s ruling Servant of the People party prior to the war, had failed, prompting a June message from his hospital bed.
After a car bombing, he blamed the SBU, the Ukrainian secret service, and boasted in a video, ‘I am alive and well.’ I intend to return to work on Monday.
They did not frighten me, and I intend to continue working. To be with my constituents and serve my district until my term expires in 2023.
“To my adversaries and those responsible for this act of sabotage, you will not stop me.”
According to some stories, the deceased politician was discovered by his mother, who then contacted 911. Doctors were unable in saving his wife.
On March 3, Russian forces captured Kherson, a city with 280 thousand inhabitants.
It was the first major city to fall after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
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