The suspect in the murder of ex-MP Iryna Farion was subscribed to a number of far-right communities, including the page of a blogger who criticized the linguist a few days before the attack.
This is stated in the material Schemes (Radio Liberty project).
Journalists analyzed the suspectʼs social networks and found out that he was subscribed to the public Telegram page “Против системы” ["Against the System"]. The description states that the owner of the page is Marko Bondarenko, a blogger who promotes conspiracy theories, misogynistic, racist and neo-Nazi ideas.
Marko Bondarenko
In a video published on July 14, Bondarenko repeatedly criticized the linguist. In particular, the blogger complained about negative comments from viewers who condemned him for using the Russian language.
The suspect in the murder of Farion actively communicated with members of Bondarenkoʼs "Against the System" community, used offensive words towards Jews.
He also subscribed to pages in the banned VKontakte social network belonging to Russian neo-Nazi and nationalist movements. And in Telegram, he followed groups with neo-Nazi views and commented on their posts.
In one of the groups, in a discussion about cryptocurrencies, the suspect was interested in whether it is possible to track a transaction in cryptocurrency and find out who is the owner of a crypto wallet.
The guy also followed the social networks of the 2rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which he wanted to join, as can be seen from the comment he left on the unitʼs page.
- On July 19, 2024б a former MP of the Verkhovna Rada, linguist Iryna Farion was shot dead in Lviv. The same day she died in the hospital.
- Law enforcement initially classified the attack on Farion as "attempted murder," but after her death, it was reclassified as murder. President Volodymyr Zelensky took the search for the killer under his control — SBU was also involved in this.
- On July 25, the suspect was detained in Dnipro. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that this is an 18-year-old boy. He prepared for the murder, watched over Farion and rented at least three apartments in Lviv. The investigation is inclined to the fact that the shooter was only an executor, and the murder itself was an order.
- A number of media identified the shooter as Vyacheslav Zinchenko, an 18-year-old resident of Dnipro.