Ukraine war latest: Ukraine's ex-parliament speaker shot dead in Lviv; Russia says war to continue
Key developments on Aug. 30-31:
- Ukraine's ex-parliament speaker shot dead in Lviv
- 'Wishful thinking, outright lies' — Ukraine dismisses Russia's claims of battlefield success
- Russia says the quiet part out loud — war in Ukraine to continue, more mass bombings of cities
- Trump considers sending US private military companies to secure Ukraine peace deal, Telegraph reports
Andrii Parubii, a Ukrainian politician and former parliamentary speaker who played a prominent role in the EuroMaidan Revolution, was shot dead in Lviv on Aug. 30.
Police said Parubii was targeted with eight shots from a short-barreled firearm, with seven shell casings found at the scene. The suspected assailant was reportedly dressed as a delivery courier and rode an electric bicycle.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, and law enforcement agencies are investigating Parubii's murder, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"The crime was, unfortunately, carefully prepared. But everything is being done to solve it," Zelensky said on his Telegram channel.
Parubii, born in 1971 near Lviv, was a long-time activist, lawmaker, and government official. He participated in the Orange Revolution in 2004, was elected to office in 2007, and led self-defense volunteer groups during the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2013-2014.
After pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted during EuroMaidan, Parubii was appointed secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. He held the position from February to August 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea and started the war in Donbas.
His role as the National Security and Defense Council secretary at the onset of Moscow's aggression made him a common target of Russian propaganda and disinformation.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the current parliament speaker, called Parubii a "consistent defender of Ukrainian statehood."
"On behalf of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, I express my condolences to Andrii's family and friends," Stefanchuk said in a public statement. Parubii is survived by his wife and daughter.
The news of Parubii's death also garnered reactions from abroad. International figures, including Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, and EU Ambassador Katarina Mathernova, praised him as a fighter for democracy and Ukraine's European future.
Police are investigating possible Russian involvement in the death of Parubii, although no concrete information has been released thus far. Police also confirmed that there is no evidence linking the killing to the murder of Iryna Farion, an ex-lawmaker and professor who was murdered in Lviv in July 2024.
'Wishful thinking, outright lies' — Ukraine dismisses Russia's claims of battlefield success
Russia's 2025 spring–summer campaign has ended with "almost nothing," Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement Aug. 31, dismissing the Kremlin's recent claims of battlefield success as "wishful thinking" and "outright lies."
"After three and a half years of full-scale Kremlin aggression, yet another of its 'seasonal' offensives has ended in almost nothing," the statement read.
The statement came in response to recent comments from Moscow's top general, Valery Gerasimov, who said Russian forces hold a strategic advantage on the battlefield, and made clear Russia has no intention of ending the war in Ukraine.
"The figures presented by the occupiers regarding captured territories and settlements are heavily exaggerated," Ukraine's General Staff said. "The only 100% verified result achieved by Russia since the beginning of 2025 is its own losses — over 291,000 soldiers killed and wounded."
In social media post on the same day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had suffered the heaviest losses in Donetsk Oblast.
"Particularly in the Pokrovsk direction, where they concentrated their main efforts but failed to achieve any of their strategic objectives," he added.
During 2025, Russian forces failed to take full control of any major Ukrainian city, the General Staff said.
Ukraine's General Staff also rebutted Russia's recent claims that they only strike military objects and facilities associated with Ukraine's military-industrial complex.
"As for the aggressor state's claims of 'precision strikes only against military targets' — thousands of Ukrainian civilians know the real price of such boasts, losing their homes, relatives, and loved ones every day," the General Staff said.
"Wherever a Russian 'Iskander' missile falls, a so-called 'UAF command post' or 'foreign mercenary base' is declared. The consequence of Russia’s constant violations of international humanitarian law is human lives."
Russia says the quiet part out loud — war in Ukraine to continue, more mass bombings of cities
After months of playing lip service to U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the head of Russia's military on Aug. 30 said Moscow will continue its war.
"The Joint Group of Troops will continue... conducting offensive actions," the chief of the General Staff of the Russian army, Valery Gerasimov, said in comments reported by Russia's Defense Ministry.
The statement makes a mockery of U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war, after multiple extensions of a deadline to see if Russian President Vladimir Putin was serious about peace.
Gerasimov also said that "targeted massive fire strikes continue," referring to the regular mass missile and drone attacks that Russia launches against Ukrainian cities.
He claimed these are "launched only against military objects and facilities of Ukraine's military-industrial complex," though Russian missiles and drones regularly hit residential buildings and civilian targets. In a recent attack on Kyiv on Aug. 28, 25 people were killed, including four children.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said he is ready to meet Putin and hold peace talks with Russia, while the Kremlin has rejected calls from Kyiv and its allies for an unconditional ceasefire and ramped up attacks against Ukrainian cities.
Trump considers sending US private military companies to secure Ukraine peace deal, Telegraph reports
U.S. President Donald Trump is negotiating with European allies to send U.S. private military companies to help secure a potential peace deal in Ukraine, the Telegraph reported on Aug. 30, citing undisclosed sources.
The potential deal is an attempt to keep a pledge not to send the U.S. military to Ukraine, while also serving as a deterrent against potential future Russian aggression.
Since taking office, Trump has pledged to broker a swift peace deal in Ukraine while reducing the scope of U.S. involvement in the war.
The focus for such U.S. contractors appears to be on helping to build new defenses and securing U.S. business interests in Ukraine, such as those that the much-vaunted mineral deal aims to facilitate.
The deal in progress also entails the deployment of European soldiers in a buffer zone near the Russian border. Another 30,000 European soldiers may be deeper in Ukraine as a further deterrent force.
European soldiers would also likely take part by coming to western Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers. Turkey would participate in the deal as envisioned by providing a naval security force in the Black Sea, critical to Ukrainian exports like grain and sunflower oil, the Telegraph reported.
Russia seems unlikely to sign off on any such security guarantee, as it has repeatedly ruled out the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal.
Note from the author:
Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.
