Ally of Ukraine ex-president Yanukovych found dead

A former ally of Ukraine’s deposed President Viktor Yanukovych has been found shot to death at his home in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said in a statement that the body of Oleg Kalashnikov, a former member of the Ukrainian parliament, was found on Wednesday evening.

The statement said the 52-year-old opposition politician had died of gunshot wounds, but did not specify whether it was an act of homicide or suicide.

Kalashnikov was a deputy for the Party of Regions in Ukraine’s previous parliament, and had reportedly attended the “Anti-Maidan” rallies in support of Yanukovych, who was ousted in February 2014 after three months of popular demonstrations against his government.

Ukrainian criminal investigation chief Vasily Paskal has taken the responsibility of investigating the case, and vowed to share the possible motives and the preliminary results of the probe with the media.

The death of Kalashnikov brings to four the number of Yanukovych’s allies found dead in the past two months.

A former member of the Party of Regions, Mikhail Chechetov

On February 28, a former member of the Party of Regions, Mikhail Chechetov, allegedly jumped from the window of his 17th floor apartment in Kiev, leaving a “suicide” note.

Two days earlier, a former MP and ex-chairman of Zaporozhye Regional State Administration had been found dead with a gun wound to his neck. His death is being investigated as a suicide.

On February 24, former Party of Regions member Stanislav Melnik died of a gunshot with his death being treated as suicide.