Sheremet Murder: Klitschko Labels Attack ‘an Attempt to Destabilize Ukraine’

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko believes the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet was an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country, he said on air on 5 Kanal on Friday, August 5.

He also underlined that the journalists of the ‘17th channel’ who were the first to arrive to the murder scene had not agreed to meet him, as they alleged.

"I declared that I took leave, and all the mass media broadcasted it… This was open information," Klitschko said, explaining that on the day of Sheremet’s murder he was abroad.

"The claims of the ‘17th channel’ journalists that they were waiting for me is simply a lie," he stressed.

Pavel Sheremet died on the morning of July 20, 2016 after his car, which was owned by the Founding Editor of Ukrayinska Pravda Olena Prytula, exploded. Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko named the professional activity of Sheremet as the main motive of the assassination.

Over 50 professionals are involved in the investigation of this murder, including experts of the FBI and Europol.

The journalists of the ‘17th channel’ were interrogated as witnesses within the ‘Russian link’ line of enquiry. They explained they appeared on the murder scene by accident – in particular, they claimed they had an interview with Klitschko at this time.

On August 4, the Prosecutor General’s Office told that four main lines of enquiry are being analyzed, including personal relations of Sheremet, his professional journalistic activities, destabilization of situation in Ukraine and an attack against Olena Prytula. "We are equally working on all these four lines of enquiry," stated Dmytro Holovin, the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police.

Source: Valentyna Romanenko, Ukrayinska Pravda