MOSCOW — A pro-Russian Ukrainian journalist was gunned down in Kiev on Thursday, authorities said, a day after a Ukrainian politician supporting Moscow was found dead.
The killing of Oles Buzyna, 45, raised fears of a new wave of back-and-forth violence in the streets of Ukraine after a string of unsolved deaths that has touched both sides of the conflict between Ukraine’s Western-allied government and pro-Moscow separatists.
Buzyna was an activist and journalist who served a three-month stint this year as the editor of Segodnya. The Russian-language newspaper, owned by one of Ukraine’s richest tycoons, is widely viewed as having sympathies with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the killing when he was informed during his annual call-in show.
It came a day after Oleh Kalashnikov, a lawmaker from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s party, was found shot dead in Kiev. Ukrainian police have not said whether they believe that death was a murder or a suicide.
Oles Buzyna was known for his pro-Russian views. (Sergei Vaganov/AP)Ukrainian nationalists and officials have been targeted several times this year with improvised bombs.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko blamed the back-to-back killings on “enemies” seeking to discredit his pro-Western government.
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