Interior Ministry briefing: Iryna Farion's murder was carefully prepared, Russia's involvement is not ruled out

The murder of linguist Iryna Farion was carefully prepared, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at a briefing in Lviv. The suspect had been preparing for the crime for ten days. 

Deputy Prosecutor General Voytenko said that the detainee has already been served with a notice of suspicion of premeditated murder. Prosecutors are requesting a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention without bail. 

Klymenko added that law enforcement officers conducted several investigative experiments. Hundreds of law enforcement officers were involved in the investigation, combing hundreds of hectares of forest, houses, interviewing witnesses and watching cameras of the Safe City and private ones. Some cameras were switched off. 

A bullet with a sporting case was found at the crime scene. These cartridges were imported in 2017-2018. This is a non-combat bullet, the place of purchase is being established. 

Law enforcement officers believe that the detainee was the perpetrator of the crime, and was not at the murder scene to distract attention. 

Thanks to the video from the cameras, it was possible to establish the suspect's movements. 

The investigation established that the suspect had changed three places of residence in Lviv before the murder. He chose all the houses with balconies. The man arrived in Lviv on 9 July, moved to another apartment on 14 July, and moved to a third one on 18 July, the day before the murder. 

The suspect mailed himself clothes from Dnipro to Lviv, including a panama hat and glasses. He kept changing his shorts in preparation for the crime. He also had a fake beard, but did not use it.

A representative of the SBU said that one of the versions is the involvement of Russian special services in the crime. 

The camera failed to capture the murder, but it did capture the suspect before the murder, just half a minute before the crime. He shot at close range, ‘no more than two metres’. After the shot, the suspect fled the scene. 

He was next spotted two days later, travelling from Lviv to Dnipro by train. That is, he stayed in Lviv for two days after the crime. 

The morning of the day after his departure, he was spotted at the Dnipro railway station.

During the inspection of his phone, law enforcement officers found an indirect discussion of the suspect's affiliation with certain groups. In the published screenshot, the author of the message criticised the Ukrainian right wing. He also kept a KGB instruction on his phone, but the information about the availability of Hitler's book in the Ministry of Internal Affairs was denied.

The detected search queries of the suspect suggest that the man could have been preparing further crimes. They also found a note that looked like a farewell.