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Fernando Villavicencio, Ecuador’s presidential candidate, was assassinated while campaigning. Photo/Reuters
JAKARTA – Many world political figures have been targeted for assassination throughout 2023. They have become victims of hatred because of their chosen thoughts and alignments. Generally, murders of politicians occur in countries experiencing armed conflict and tension.
The murder of the politician is also proof that becoming a political figure is not a young choice, but it carries risks. Moreover, when they fight for something different and become enemies of certain groups.
Here are the most shocking murders of world political figures in 2023.
1. Illia Kyva, Politikus Ukraina Pro-Russia
Photo/actual
Ukraine has reportedly orchestrated the assassination of a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician. A source in Ukraine’s defense sector told AFP that its SBU security service had killed former politician Illia Kyva, who defected to Moscow at the start of the war.
Kyva was a pro-Russian member of the Ukrainian parliament before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A regular speaker on Russian TV channels since the war began, Kyva supported the Russian invasion and called on Ukrainians to surrender, according to the Kyiv Post.
The outlet said that Kyva claimed Ukraine was “enslaved and brought to its knees by the West, possessed by Nazism, and Ukraine has no future”, and called the invasion a “necessary liberation”.
Kyva has been sentenced to 14 years in prison in absentia by a Ukrainian court on charges including treason and incitement to violence. He had also previously written to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting Russian citizenship.
Russian investigators said Kyva had been shot, and his body was found in a park in Moscow in early December 2023.
“An unknown person opened fire at the victim with an unknown weapon. The man died on the spot from his injuries,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.
2. Fernando Villavicencio, Candidate for President of Ecuador
Photo/Reuters
Over the years, Ecuador has experienced violent political strife, including coups and the persecution and exile of political opponents and critical journalists.