Bomb injures MP Mosiychuk, who accuses Kremlin of assassination plot

A bomb planted on a moped exploded near the car of MP Ihor Mosiychuk the night of Oct. 25, injuring him and two others, while also killing his bodyguard and a nearby pedestrian. Mosiychuk underwent surgery for his injuries and remains in serious condition, authorities said, while political expert Vitaliy Bala suffered damage to his vital organs for which he had surgery. Mosiychuk and his associates were leaving a Kyiv television studio after participating in a broadcast.

In remarks on his Facebook page afterwards, Mosiychuk said he believes the assassination was ordered by the Russian government and executed by Russian agents in Kyiv, possibly among patriot groups. “This is the first assassination attempt on a state official of such a level in Ukraine,” Mosiychuk said.

A longtime activist in nationalist organizations and a member of the populist Radical Party, Mosiychuk was accused of bribery two years ago by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Parliament voted to remove his political immunity in September 2015 and he was immediately arrested. He was released two months later when a court ruled his arrest illegal.

Zenon Zawada: It’s not clear at this point why the Russian government would have targeted Mosiychuk in particular, though we don’t doubt his claim that the Kremlin is resposible. What’s most apparent is that the overall security situation in Ukraine has deteriorated recently. Anti-corruption activists have occupied the street outside parliament, brawling is increasingly common inside parliament (with smoke bombs recently thrown), two ammunitions caches erupted in fire this year and car explosions occur every few months in the capital (six in the last 16 months, a local journalist estimated).

These are consequences of the ongoing hybrid war with Russia, which is continuing to destabilize the situation throughout Ukraine, not only inflicting damage on the Donbas warfront. Unfortunately, deadly incidents like these – and the ongoing corruption in government – are not making Ukraine an attractive place for foreign investment. They are also not inspiring confidence among Western and European leaders in the Poroshenko administration’s ability to defend Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression.