A Russian MP who fled Moscow fearing for his life at the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin''s secret service was shot dead today Thursday March 23,2017 in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
Investigators stand over the body of Denis Voronenkov, a former MP in the Russian State Duma, who was shot dead in Kiev today in an apparent contract killing
Denis Voronenkov, who had testified against the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, was assassinated in broad daylight.
His bodyguard was injured but fired back, wounding the assassin. Both have been taken to hospital after the shooting outside a luxury hotel.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said it was an 'act of state terrorism' by Russia and added: 'It clearly shows the handwriting of Russian special services shown repeatedly in various European capitals in the past.'
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'We believe that all the falsehoods that can already be heard about much-hyped Russian involvement are absurd.'
Nikolai Kovalyov, a former Russian security chief who is now an MP, told Russian state television the killing could have been rooted in a business dispute.
The 45-year-old fled Moscow in October with his wife Maria Maksakova, an opera singer, saying they were fed up of the 'schizophrenic' Russian government.
Denis Vorodenkov (pictured left, with his wife Maria Maksakova) was considered a turncoat after he switched from supporting Putin to opposing him and fleeing to the Ukraine
Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko blamed the Kremlin for Voronenkov's killing, saying Russia wanted to punish him for his testimony to Ukrainian investigators.
He said it was a 'cynical murder' of a man who had provided investigators with important testimony about Russian aggression and added: 'This was a typical show execution of a witness by the Kremlin.'
The killing came a few hours after Russian or separatist saboteurs blew up a warehouse storing tank ammunition at a military base in the east of the country.
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