Photo by t.me/irynadmytrivna
Photo caption: Irina Farion became famous for her harsh statements about the Ukrainian languageJuly 19, 2024
Updated July 20, 2024
In Lviv on Friday evening an unknown person shot the famous politician and philologist Iryna Farion in the head. She died in hospital. The shooter is being sought. The main version of the assassination attempt is personal hostility and the political activity of the former deputy from the Svoboda party.
“This is not a spontaneous killing.”
Farion is a philologist, former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the far-right party “Svoboda”, known for her radical statements in support of the Ukrainian language, for one of which she was suspended from her job at the Ukrainian language department of the Lviv Polytechnic University.
Police and SBU officers continue to search for the person who shot Farion, the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Igor Klimenko reported last night.
“The main versions that are being considered at the moment are: personal hostility, the socio-political activities of Mrs. Farion. We do not rule out that the murder is a contract killing,” Klimenko said (quoted from his Telegram channel).
The assassination attempt was reported to the BBC Ukrainian Service on Friday evening by Svoboda party press secretary Khrystyna Ravlyuk. It took place at around 7:30 pm near the apartment building on Masaryk Street where the 60-year-old politician and teacher lived.
The attacker, according to eyewitnesses, fired one shot, hitting her in the temple, TSN reports. Farion was taken to the emergency room. Doctors were unable to save her.
Farion’s death was announced by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi. “This is very scary and terrible. I have always said that there is no safe place in Ukraine anymore, but such a brazen, impudent murder… The killer must be found!” he wrote on Telegram.
The National Police of Ukraine reported that after Farion’s death, the case of the attempted murder against her was reclassified as premeditated murder. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the murder was planned.
“The shooter prepared in advance, and this is not a spontaneous murder. How long he prepared – a week or two weeks – time will tell,” Ukrainska Pravda quotes Klimenko as saying.
Answering journalists’ questions, the minister did not rule out a possible “Russian connection,” but did not disclose any details on this matter, writes RBC-Ukraine.
Photo by t.me/suspilnelviv
Photo caption, Scene footage
Who was Irina Farion
Iryna Farion was a well-known defender of the Ukrainian language, a philologist, a professor, and a member of the Svoboda party. She repeatedly found herself in scandals because of her harsh statements.
Farion was born and raised in Lviv, received a philological education and worked in the field of Ukrainian philology all her life, was a doctor of philological sciences and taught for almost 30 years at the Lviv Polytechnic, holding the position of professor of the Ukrainian language department.
Farion began her active work in the conservative-nationalist “Svoboda” in the early 2000s. Since 2006, she was a deputy of the Lviv Regional Council and regularly ran for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, but she was able to get into parliament only once – in 2012.
The politician’s most recognizable statements, often bordering on political correctness, about the introduction of the Ukrainian language and attacks on everything connected with Russia made her the most recognizable, the BBC Ukrainian Service notes.
In 2010, she criticized children’s names that she felt were not Ukrainian enough.
After being elected to parliament, when Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions were in power, the politician actively opposed all initiatives that limited the use of the Ukrainian language.
Photo by UNIAN
Photo caption: Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok and Iryna Farion in the Ukrainian parliament, 2014
In 2014, Svoboda failed to enter parliament, and Farion returned to Lviv. Until 2019, the professor hosted the historical TV project “The Greatness of the Personality,” the goal of which was to popularize historical figures — from Ivan Mazepa to Stepan Bandera.
Last fall, Farion found herself at the center of a high-profile scandal, in connection with which the SBU launched a criminal investigation. It all began with an interview in which she sharply criticized Ukrainian military personnel who continued to communicate in Russian.
“I can’t call them Ukrainians if they don’t speak Ukrainian – let them call themselves “Russians”. Why are they so crazy?” the linguist said on the program “Rendezvous with Yanina Sokolova”. “They are such great patriots. Show your patriotism – learn the language of Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko.”
After the scandal provoked by her words, Farion published a message from one of her subscribers from the annexed Crimea, in which he supported her. At the same time, she did not hide her personal data, and FSB officers came to this young man, as Ukrainian media wrote.
Upon learning of this, Lviv students staged a protest and demanded the professor’s dismissal, and on November 15, 2023, Lviv Polytechnic fired Farion, but in May the court reinstated her and awarded her compensation. With this money, she reportedly bought 11 drones for the military.
As of July 19, the pre-trial investigation into Farion’s criminal case was ongoing. In particular, under the article on insulting the honor and dignity of a serviceman. The SBU initiated a psychological and linguistic examination of her statements.