Without saying a word and a shot in the head. This is how the ultra-nationalist former MP and linguistics professor was murdered on Friday in the street in Lviv Irina Farion, a staunch defender of the Ukrainian language and known for her controversial Russophobic statements. attempt that has shocked the country.
Farion, a very controversial figure in Ukraine for his views on the use of the Russian language In her country, she was executed on the street where she lived by an unidentified man who He shot him in the head before fleeing..
Although she was immediately taken to hospital, little could be done for her life as she arrived in critical condition.
“Any act of violence only deserves condemnation “And all those responsible for this attack must bear full responsibility,” the Ukrainian president said. Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Minister of the Interior, Igor Klimenko, He explained, for his part, that the murderer, whom the authorities are still searching for and whose whereabouts remain unknown, He prepared the attack for weeks.
Irina Farion, in a video on her YouTube channel.
Youtube
Among the possible motives for the attackthe police are considering Farion’s public and political activity, as well as a personal animosity towards her.
Explanations that do not convince Svobodathe political party that Farion represented in the Lviv regional council between 2008 and 2012 and in the Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, between 2012 and 2014. This party has no doubts about the authorship of this execution and points directly tol Kremlin.
“The murder of Irina Farion was carried out on the orders of Moscowregardless of which bastard carried it out directly,” he said. Svoboda pointing out that Farion’s staunch defense of the Ukrainian language made her a target of Russia.
Defense of the Ukrainian language
Farion rose to fame for his continued calls for extend the use of the Ukrainian language in public and their campaigns to discredit Russian-speaking public officials.
His deep conviction that The continued use of the Russian language weakened the country and contributed to making him a target of Russian aggression, which earned him support from voters.
Irina Farion, during her time as a member of the Verkhovna Rada.
@IrinaFarion
Although Ukrainian is the only official language of the country, Many citizens speak Russian as their first language, a legacy of the Soviet regime, especially in the east and south.
Despite this, the Ukrainian language has been gaining ground since the fall of the USSR. The Rada has passed several laws in this regard. Thus, in 2019, the Parliament approved a law reinforcing the use of Ukrainian to the detriment of Russian, by making the use of the first language mandatory in the organs of power and in all areas of public life.
As a teacher, the former deputy also carried out a investigation into how Russia constantly limited the use of the Ukrainian language in an attempt to erode Ukrainian national identity during the centuries it controlled much of the country.
However, their radicalism and its controversial ways led to its gradual loss of support and eventual disappearance from the political sphere. Since 2014, nationalist forces, including Svoboda, have not won a single seat in the Verkhovna Rada.
From controversy to controversy
Despite being out of political life, Farion continued to make people talk about controversy, especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Before that, in 2018, when the country was fighting Russian-funded separatists who had seized territory in the east, the former MP called for a campaign to “punch all Russian-speaking people in the jaw.”
Also that same year he attacked Russian-speaking Ukrainians, calling them “mentally retarded” and blaming them for causing the Russian-Ukrainian war.
In March 2019, in response to criticism by journalist Dmitry Gordon of Stepan Banderaa controversial Ukrainian ultra-nationalist who many consider a Nazi collaborator, Farion called Gordon a “enemy of the people” and wished him a “tortuous death.” Statements for which she was harshly criticized by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
Last November, Farion harshly criticized Russian-speaking Ukrainian soldiers of the Azov Battalion, which heroically defended the city of Mariupol for three months, and of the 3rd Assault Brigade, known for their patriotic ideology, stating that They were not Ukrainians.
Days after shared his private correspondence with a pro-Ukrainian student from Russian-occupied Crimea, revealing his identity, leading to his arrest by Russian security forces.
This fact triggered Mass protests of students at the National Polytechnic University of Lviv, where she taught linguistics for more than two decades. Farion was eventually dismissed from her position as professor.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) even opened a criminal case against Farion for his statements and posts on social media.
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