Daily Mail reports that Oleksiy Kovalyov, 33, a senior official in charge of agriculture in the Moscow-appointed military-civil administration in Kherson, was killed with a pump action shotgun at his residence in the city of Hola Prystan on Sunday.
A Ukrainian Member of Parliament described as a “traitor” who switched sides to back President Vladimir Putin when he ordered the invasion of Ukraine is said to have been blasted to death with a shotgun while his wife was fatally stabbed at their home in the occupied Kherson region.
Daily Mail reports that Oleksiy Kovalyov, 33, a senior official in charge of agriculture in the Moscow-appointed military-civil administration in Kherson, was killed with a pump action shotgun at his residence in the city of Hola Prystan on Sunday.
His wife, 38, was also stabbed and her throat slit in the attack before she died in hospital.
Russian officials said they would probe the attack, the latest in a series of apparent assassinations of Moscow-backed officials in occupied areas.
The couple were believed to have been assassinated by a hit squad. After an earlier failed assassination bid, Kovalyov had defiantly told his Ukrainian enemies: 'You won't stop me.'
Ukrainian official Serhiy Khlan announced: 'Former MP and traitor Oleksiy Kovalyov has been killed.'
A Telegram channel run by Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko confirmed, “The traitor, collaborator and former People's Deputy Oleksiy Kovalyov was shot dead in his own house.
“The occupiers have begun intensive searches and document checks. Be careful, Ukrainians.”
In April 2022, Kovalyov had switched sides to ally himself with the Vladimir Putin regime when they invaded his home country in February this year, causing thousands of deaths and left large parts of major cities completely destroyed.
Ukrainian official Serhiy Khlan said: "Former MP and traitor Oleksiy Kovalyov has been killed."
He was eventually appointed the Deputy Head of Agriculture in the important grain region, a significant role considering Ukraine's reputation as the "breadbasket of the world".
The former MP with the ruling Servant of the People party - the same as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - in Kyiv was found and killed by saboteurs located in the Kherson region, currently occupied by Russia but facing a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Ukrainian forces claim they have broken through "in several places" in the attempt to re-take the south of the country, while Zelenksy warned Russian troops to flee if they want to survive.