Denis Voronenkov

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Nikolayevich and the family name is Voronenkov.
Denis Voronenkov
Денис Вороненков
Member of the State Duma
In office
21 December 2011 – 5 October 2016
Personal details
Born
Denis Nikolayevich Voronenkov

(1971-04-10)10 April 1971
Gorky, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died23 March 2017(2017-03-23) (aged 45)
Kyiv, Ukraine
Manner of deathAssassination by gunshots
Political partyUnity (2000–2003)
Independent (2003–2011; 2016–2017)
Communist Party of the Russian Federation (2011–2016)
SpouseMaria Maksakova Jr. (m. 2015)
Children3
AwardsMedal "For Distinguished Service to the Drug Control Authorities", 3rd degree (2006)[1]
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union
 Russia
Branch/serviceSoviet Army
Russian Ground Forces
Years of service1988–1999
RankColonel

Denis Nikolayevich Voronenkov (Russian: Денис Николаевич Вороненков, IPA: [dʲɪˈnʲis vərɐˈnʲɛnkəf]; 10 April 1971 – 23 March 2017) was a Russian politician who served as a member of the State Duma from 2011 to 2016. He was a member of the Unity party from 2000 to 2003 and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation from 2011 to 2016.

Voronenkov was born in

Nenets Autonomous District. Voronenkov then joined the Communist Party and was elected to the State Duma in 2011. In the 2016 legislative election he lost his seat to United Russia candidate Vladimir Panov
.

The following month, Voronenkov renounced his Russian citizenship and emigrated to Ukraine with his wife,

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny
found that Voronenkov possessed significantly more assets than his officially-declared income would allow.

Voronenkov was shot dead in Kyiv by a Ukrainian national, Pavlo Parshov. Ukrainian prosecutors believe that it had been a contract killing (arranged by an FSB officer) while the country's then-president, Petro Poroshenko, alleged that it had been orchestrated by the Russian government.

Personal life and family

Denis Nikolayevich Voronenkov was born in Gorky (now

Kostyantyn Doroshenko published the book «Aria of Mary» a biography of Maria Maksakova and her life with Voronenkov.(2021).[8]
[9]

Education

As the son of a serviceman, Voronenkov won a place in the

Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, prior to his transfer to the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.[1] In 1996 he did another course at the Faculty of Law of Ryazan State University.[1] In 1999, at the Moscow Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Russian Federation he successfully defended his thesis for the Degree of Candidate for Legal Sciences, titled 'Legal Nihilism and Legal Idealism (Theoretical and Legal Research)', Doctor of Law.[1] In 2009 he defended his thesis on 'Theoretical and normative basis of judicial control in the mechanism of separation of powers', at the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.[1]

Career

Voronenkov eventually came to hold the rank of

Nenets Autonomous District.[1] Voronenkov then worked for the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia from 2004 until 2007.[1][11][b] He then pursued an academic career as an associate professor; his last post before being elected an MP was (from February 2010) at the St. Petersburg Institute of International Trade, Economics and Law.[1][12]

Political career

Voronenkov was elected as a deputy for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, in 2011.[3][7]

Voronenkov lost his bid for

Ukrainian citizen in December.[4][16] Voronenkov said that he had no intention of entering Ukrainian politics.[7] He was expelled from the Communist Party in 2016.[1]

After he moved to Ukraine, he became known as a sharp critic of Russian president

Russian intervention in Ukraine and elsewhere, e.g. in Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.[7] In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in February 2017, Voronenkov compared Russia under Vladimir Putin to Nazi Germany and called the Russian annexation of Crimea both illegal and a mistake.[7] He described the atmosphere in Russia as characterised by a "pseudo-patriotic frenzy" and "total fear".[7] At the time of his death, he had been due to testify against former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.[17]

According to Voronenkov, he was persecuted in Russia by the

Russian Prosecutor-General's Office refused to launch a probe against Voronenkov recommended by the Investigative Committee of Russia.[14] Nevertheless, Voronenkov was accused later of being involved in an illegal property seizure (worth 127 million rubles[18]) in Moscow.[14] Russian investigators were preparing a criminal case against Voronenkov, but were waiting for his parliamentary immunity to run out in December 2016.[11] In March 2017 a court in Moscow had sanctioned Voronenkov's arrest in absentia.[18] Voronenkov himself dismissed the Russian accusations as politically motivated and stated that the Federal Security Service had offered him to write off the accusations against him if he would pay them US$3 million.[19][10]

Voronenkov has been accused by

Alexey Navalny and the Anti-Corruption Foundation of using ill-gotten wealth to buy extensive property and automotive holdings worth hundreds of millions of rubles. Voronenkov had multiple properties including a luxury villa worth 300 million rubles, which his annual parliamentary salary of 3 million rubles (his highest ever reported income), given that he has only ever worked in the Russian government, could scarcely have afforded him.[20][21]

Death

Voronenkov was shot dead in Kyiv as he left the Premier Palace hotel on March 23, 2017.

undercover agent into the National Guard of Ukraine.[25] A police spokesman said the murder was likely a contract killing.[13] Voronenkov's bodyguard was also wounded during the incident.[3]

The president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko reacted to the murder by calling it an act of Russian "state terrorism". Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov denied being involved and called the claims "absurd". Several other officials also dismissed involvement.[17] Russian MP and former Director of the Russian Federal Security Service Nikolay Kovalyov said to Russian TV that he believed the murder may be linked to a business dispute.[17] Ponomarev reacted to the murder by stating: "I have no words. The security guard was able to injure the attacker. The potential theory is obvious. Voronenkov was not a crook, but an investigator who was fatally dangerous to Russian authorities."[3] Lutsenko called the murder a "typical show execution of a witness by the Kremlin."[26]

A little more than a month before his murder, Voronenkov said that he feared for his own and his family's security, and that he had been "poking a sore spot of the Kremlin" with his criticism of the Russian president.[7] In a March 2017 interview, he referred to "demonization" in Russia and stated, "The system has lost its mind. They say we are traitors in Russia. And I say, 'Who did we betray?"[27]

In 2019 The New York Times Magazine reported that Voronenkov's death was likely to have been related to him benefiting on his co-conspirators in a case of corporate raiding.[28]

Investigation

Pavlo Parshov's papers issued by UNG.

In March, 2017 the

War in Donbass and had history of arrests for various crimes in the past.[30]

In September 2017 Ukrainian prosecutor's office announced that Vladimir Tyurin [ru] (a thief in law who was in relationship with Maria Maksakova Jr. before she married Voronenkov) was hired by Oleg Feoktistov (Russian: Олег Феоктистов), a Russian FSB officer, to organize the assassination of Voronenkov. The latter was said to be at odds with Feoktistov. The investigation did not provide any evidence.[28][31][32]

See also

  • List of unsolved murders

Notes

  1. ^ During this period the Military Prosecutor's Office was acting as the de facto military police of the Russian Armed Forces, with some assistance from ministry of internal affairs OMON units.
  2. acting rank
    of colonel.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Биография Дениса Вороненкова" [Biography of Denis Voronenkov] (in Russian). TASS. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  2. ^ ""Если бы это была не Украина, никто бы не сводил со мной счеты"" ["If it was not Ukraine, no one would take his scores with me"] (Interview) (in Russian). Meduza. 15 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Walker, Shaun (23 March 2017). "Denis Voronenkov: ex-Russian MP who fled to Ukraine killed in Kiev". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  4. ^
    newsru.com (in Russian). 14 February 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
    "Экс-депутат Вороненков сравнил Россию с нацистской Германией: "Крым был украден"" [Ex-deputy Voronenkov compared Russia with Nazi Germany: "Crimea was stolen"]. Moskovskij Komsomolets
    (in Russian). 14 February 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Russia: MPs find love across the political divide". BBC News. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  6. gazeta.ru
    (in Russian). Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Miller, Christopher (16 February 2017). "Seen As Turncoats By Moscow, Exiled Duma Pair Blasts Kremlin From Kyiv". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  8. Kostyantyn Doroshenko. Aria of Mary. Kiyv: Laurus, 2021 ISBN 978-617-7313-59-4 (in Rus.)[1]
  9. ^ Olga Mikhailova. "Aria of Mary": a story in biography and vice versa. Kyivdaily.10.12.2021(in Ukr.)
  10. ^ a b Nemtsova, Anna (17 February 2017). "Russian Whistleblowers Turn on Putin—But Can They Be Trusted?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  11. ^ a b c "Russian ex-MP Voronenkov shot dead at Kiev hotel". BBC News. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  12. ^ Anin, Roman (15 February 2017). "Призрак коммуниста" [The Ghost of a Communist]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). No. 16. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Former Russian Parliamentarian and Putin Critic Shot Dead in Kiev". The Moscow Times. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  14. ^ a b c "Former Lawmaker Who Defected To Ukraine Lambasts Russia". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  15. ^ Parfitt, Tom (23 March 2017). "Putin critic shot dead in the streets of Kiev". The Times. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  16. ^ Vasilyeva, Nataliya (23 March 2017). "Exiled Russian politician shot dead in Ukraine". The Star. Associated Press. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Osborne, Samuel (23 March 2017). "Former Russian MP shot dead in Kiev, Ukraine". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  18. ^ a b "Экс-депутат Госдумы РФ Вороненков убит в Киеве" (in Russian). Interfax. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  19. ^ Butenko, Victoria; Hanna, Jason (23 March 2017). "Putin critic Denys Voronenkov shot dead in Ukraine". CNN. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  20. ^ Ioffe, Julia (23 March 2017). "Murder in Kiev". The Atlantic. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  21. ^ Navalny, Alexey (21 July 2015). "У него ещё и пистолет" [He also has a pistol] (in Russian). LiveJournal. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  22. ^ "McCain accuses Russia of 'state terrorism' over political murder". Washington Examiner. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Розшукові обліки МВС" (in Ukrainian). Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. 25 November 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  24. ^ a b "Miller, Christopher (24 March 2017). "Kyiv Identifies Suspected Gunman In Ex-Duma Deputy's Assassination". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  25. ^ "Геращенко подтвердил, что убийца экс-депутата Госдумы Вороненкова действительно служил в Нацгвардии" (in Russian). Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Former Russian lawmaker Denys Voronenkov shot dead in Ukrainian capital". Deutsche Welle. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  27. ^ Roth, Andrew; Gryvnak, Natalie (23 March 2017). "Gunman in Ukraine kills Putin foe in attack denounced as 'state terrorism'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  28. ^ a b c "He Played by the Rules of Putin's Russia, Until He Didn't: The Story of a Murder". The New York Times Magazine. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019. In September 2017, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office held a news conference to announce the results of its investigation. Lutsenko, Kononenko and Ponomarev lined up in front of the cameras to announce that law enforcement had solved the case. Under F.S.B. direction, they explained, Vladimir Tyurin — Maksakova's former partner — hired three Ukrainian radicals through his criminal network: the shooter, whose nom de guerre was the Boxer; an associate, called the Hunter; and the driver, Yaroslav Tarasenko, who was arrested in June but maintained his innocence. "The heads of the F.S.B., together with the heads of the criminal world of Russia, had prepared actions toward the murder — or elimination, from their point of view — of an incredibly valuable witness," Lutsenko began. [...]
  29. ^ Ведомости (24 March 2017). "В нацгвардии Украины рассказали о карьере убийцы Вороненкова". Ведомости. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  30. ^ "Радикал-доброволец? Кто помогал убить Вороненкова". korrespondent.net (in Russian). Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  31. ^ "Луценко назвал мотивы убийства экс-депутата Госдумы Вороненкова". www.unian.net (in Russian). Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  32. ^ "Facts about Kremlin critics murdered in Ukraine". France 24. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
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