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Illia Kyva

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Volodymyrovych and the family name is Kyva.

Illia Kyva
Ілля Кива
File:Ілля Володимирович Кива.jpg
Kyva in 2019
People's Deputy of Ukraine
In office
29 August 2019 – 15 March 2022[1]
Leader of Socialist Party of Ukraine
In office
8 July 2017 – 6 June 2019
Regional leader of the Right Sector in the East of Ukraine
In office
March 2014 – September 2014
Personal details
Born(1977-06-02)2 June 1977
Poltava, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Died6 December 2023(2023-12-06) (aged 46)
Suponevo [ru], Odintsovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia[2]
Political partyOpposition Platform — For Life (2019–2022)
Other political
affiliations		Right Sector (2014–2015)
Socialist Party of Ukraine (2017–2019)
EducationNational Academy of Internal Affairs (2017)
Occupationmilitary personnel, politician, accounting assistant, engineering assistant, police officer

Illia Volodymyrovych Kyva[a] (2 June 1977 – 6 December 2023) was a Ukrainian politician who was a member of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) from 2019 to 15 March 2022. He defected to Russia in 2022 and was found shot dead in a Moscow suburb on 6 December 2023. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for the assassination.[3][4]

Kyva worked as an official and policeman before entering politics, heading the Poltava chapter of the Right Sector party before serving as Socialist Party of Ukraine leader from 2017 to 2019. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in March 2019, then was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in July 2019 as a member of the Opposition Platform — For Life party.[5] During Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, he moved to Russia one month before the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine[4] and effectively defected to Russia by asking Russian president Vladimir Putin for a Russian passport (Russian citizenship) and political asylum.[6] On 15 March 2022, the Verkhovna Rada deprived Kyva of his parliamentary mandate, following comments in support of Russia during its invasion.[1] Right after he was announced shot dead on 6 December 2023 the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine stated that Kyva was "one of the biggest scumbags, traitors and collaborators" and that his death was "justice".[4]

Early life

Until 2003, Kyva studied at the Oil and Gas Geological and Mechanical-Technical School in his native Poltava, specializing in maintenance. He also took courses to become a "pedagogue-psychologist".

In 2005, he was hired to become the chief accountant of an industrial company. In 2009, he graduated with a degree in Law from the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. In 2010, he worked in the department of roadworks.

In 2011, he became the head of Poltava's consumer rights department, for a short spell of two months. He was charged with corruption by a district tribunal of the Poltava region, fined Kyva ₴10,000, and barred him from public office for one year.

Politics

2013–2017

Kvya's political career began in 2013, when he unsuccessfully stood for the Verkhovna Rada.[citation needed] In 2014, Kyva became a police major (майор міліції) and was appointed commander of his native town's battalion, "Poltavshchyna".[7] He became the leader of Right Sector's Eastern division stretching from Poltava to Donetsk, and was the representative of Dmytro Yarosh's 2014 presidential election campaign.[7]

Kyva was then appointed deputy chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' regional department for Donetsk.[7] At this time he also befriended Dmytro Korchynsky, founder of the St Mary's battalion which fought in the War in Donbass.[7]

In 2016, he attracted controversy for endorsing extrajudicial methods of combating drug crime while at the helm of the ministry's anti-drug crime division.[8] From 2016 to 2017, he was an advisor to Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.[citation needed]

2019–2023

Kyva was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, receiving a few thousand votes under the banner of the Socialist Party of Ukraine. However, he would later make a political u-turn and get elected as a member of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life list in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election. Kyva went on to host his own show on the ZIK TV channel, said to be controlled by oligarch and leader of co-chairman of the Opposition Platform Viktor Medvedchuk.[7]

On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine.[9] On the same day Kyva expressed support for the invasion, claiming "the Ukrainian people need liberation" and that "Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians are one people."[10] Furthermore he stated that Ukraine was "enslaved and brought to its knees by the West, imbued with Nazism, and has no future."[10] He blamed the war on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and urged him to resign.[11]

One month before the invasion, Kyva had left for Spain, before moving to Russia.[4][10] On 3 March 2022, Kyva was expelled from the party and faction of Opposition Platform — For Life.[11] On 6 March 2022, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova announced that Kyva was being charged with high treason, as well as infringing on Ukraine's territorial integrity, taking part in Russian war propaganda, and illegal weapons possession.[12]

On 15 March 2022, the Verkhovna Rada deprived Kyva of his mandate as a People's Deputy.[1]

On 17 April 2022, he wrote about a nuclear strike on Ukraine on his Telegram account, stating “Zelensky, his entourage and Western curators, are most afraid of a Russian preemptive strike, weapons of mass destruction. This is what can put an end to today's confrontation, not only with the Ukrainian authorities, but with the entire West.”[13][14][15]

On 18 April 2022, it was reported that Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations had opened a case of treason against Kyva for involvement in an illegal arrangement with a general of the Russian Armed Forces.[16] (In Ukraine) Kyva was given a 14-year jail sentence in absentia for high treason and calling publicly for the occupation of Ukraine.[3] Kyva was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom that year in relation to his actions during the war.[17]

On 21 April 2022, in an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Kyva applied for Russian citizenship and political asylum.[18]

Based on the analysis of videos published on his Telegram account, Ukrainian investigation platform Bihus.Info [uk] concluded (on 20 June 2022) that Kyva had settled in the cottage town of Agalarov Estate, near the village Pokrovskoye in Moscow Oblast.[19]

In Russia Kyva frequently criticised Ukrainian authorities online and on Russian state TV talkshows.[4]

Death

See also: Collaboration with Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine § Assassination attempts and deaths of collaborators

Kyva was shot dead in the village of Suponevo, to the west of Moscow, on 6 December 2023.[3][4] Several Ukrainian media outlets, citing unnamed sources, claimed that Kyva was targeted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).[3] The press representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian TV "Yes, we can confirm Kyva is no more. This fate will befall other traitors of Ukraine and puppets of Putin's regime."[3] Yusov claimed that Kyva was "one of the biggest scumbags, traitors and collaborators" and said his death was "justice".[4]

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the SBU and military intelligence have claimed a number of successful operations against high-value targets in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine as well as in Russia itself.[3] Russia has blamed the SBU for the assassination of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, and the assassination of military vlogger Vladlen Tatarsky.[4] Several Russian-controlled officials in Russian-occupied Ukraine have been killed since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Ukrainian: Ілля́ Володи́мирович Ки́ва
    Russian: Илья́ Влади́мирович Ки́ва, romanized: Ilya Vladimirovich Kiva

References

  1. ^ a b c "Kyva is no longer a People's Deputy". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  2. ^ https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/cd1p0zp8g37o.amp В Московской области убит бывший украинский депутат Илья Кива. Что известно
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lukiv, Jaroslav (6 December 2023). "Ukraine claims killing of 'traitor' ex-MP Illya Kyva in Russia". BBC News. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
    "Source: SBU assassinates Russian-linked former lawmaker Kyva in Moscow". The Kyiv Independent. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
    "Former Ukrainian MP Illia Kyva was assassinated by Ukraine's Security Service". Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
    "Тело экс-депутата Рады Ильи Кивы найдено в Подмосковье". REN TV (in Russian). 6 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Pro-Russia Ukrainian MP Illia Kyva shot dead in Moscow suburb". The Guardian. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Илья Кива избран главой партийной организации г.Полтава". ОП-ЗЖ. ОППОЗИЦИОННАЯ ПЛАТФОРМА – ЗА ЖИЗНЬ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  6. ^ "🤣 Кива попросив у путіна громадянство та політичний притулок". YouTube.
  7. ^ a b c d e Taras Tarasiuk; Andreas Umland (29 September 2021), Unexpected Friendships: Cooperation of Ukrainian Ultra-Nationalists with Russian and Pro-Kremlin Actors, retrieved 21 March 2022
  8. ^ Kokriatski, Romeo (7 May 2021). "Ilya Kiva and the Man Who Would Be A PhD". Заборона. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Putin announces formal start of Russia's invasion in eastern Ukraine". Meduza. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  10. ^ a b c "Kyva on the air of RosTV said that Ukraine is "enslaved and brought to its knees by the West"". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 24 February 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  11. ^ a b "The Verkhovna Rada before the war and now. How do parties vote for security initiatives?". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 11 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Prosecutors charge pro-Kremlin lawmaker with high treason". The Kyiv Independent. 6 March 2022. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Medvedchuk's crony and pro-Russian MP Illya Kyva, who fled #Ukraine to Russia, calls on the Kremlin to launch a nuclear strike on Ukraine. He said, "this will put an end to the confrontation with Ukraine's authorities and the entire West."". Twitter. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Илья Кива - ZOV КРОВИ". Telegram. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  15. ^ "SUkraine's wildcard former MP who wants Russia to nuke his homeland". 19 April 2022.
  16. ^ "SBI exposes money laundering scheme by Russian general through business partner of Kyva". Interfax-Ukraine News Agency. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  17. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  18. ^ "Kyva asked Putin for asylum and citizenship". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 21 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Journalists found out where Kyva lives near Moscow". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 20 June 2022.
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