STALKED THEN SLAUGHTERED
Shocking moment Vladimir Putin critic Denis Voronenkov is shot dead by ‘Russian spy’ in Ukrainian capital Kiev
Ukraine accuses Kremlin of 'state terrorism' and training a spy to take out leading opposition figure
THIS is the shocking moment an enemy of Vladimir Putin is gunned down in cold blood on a Kiev street.
Footage shows how a gunman stalks former Moscow MP Denis Voronenkov, 45, and shoots him at close range as his armed bodyguard fails to protect him.
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A slim man in a dark coat follows the opposition politician who last year defected to Ukraine.
Voronenkov turns his face towards the assassin who appears to have called out his name.
As soon as he turned, the killer - who has been identified as Ukrainian citizen Pavel Parshov, 28 - shoots him at close range in the head.
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Voronenkov had been a vocal critic of the Kremlin’s actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and had testified in a treason trial against ex-President Viktor Yanukovych —a firm Putin ally.
He had been granted Ukrainian citizenship last year after losing an election and switching allegiance following the ousting of the country’s pro-Russian leadership.
A former Communist Party member in the Russian Dumas parliament, he fled the country fearing for his safety after speaking out against Putin.
He left with his wife, the singer Maria Maksakova, who was also a politician. The couple have one infant son named Ivan.
She was pictured at the crime scene and fainted in shock. Some sources say she is pregnant.
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Voronenkov had been due to meet another Putin critic and exiled Russian Ilya Ponomaryov.
Ponomaryov wrote that his friend was "an investigator who was deadly dangerous for Russian security agencies".
Russia launched a smear campaign against Voronenkov last year, pinning £4million fraud charges on him and his wife.
In an interview he told Ukrainian media that Russia was going through a "pseudo-patriotic frenzy" similar to Nazi Germany.
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Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president, was briefed on the killing by his head of security before blasting the "cunning murder".
He said the killing was "act of terrorism on the part of Russia, which he was forced to leave for political reasons", a presidential spokesperson wrote.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuri Lutsenko, described the "cynical" attack as “the usual kind of Kremlin retribution”.
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The Kremlin denied any involvement in the murder, saying the accusations are "absurd".
Putin's spokesman said the Russian president had been informed of the shooting, and angrily denied Russian links to his shooting.
"We think that any insinuations that are already being voiced about the same old Russian trace are absurd," he said.
He declined to say more. ";It is not our theme," he said.
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