Denis Voronenkov, a former Russian lawmaker who fled the country last year and has harshly criticized president Vladimir Putin, was gunned down outside of a Kiev hotel Thursday in what Ukraine’s president is calling an “act of Russian state terrorism.”

A critic of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Voronenkov was helping prosecutors build a treason case against ex-Ukrainian president and Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych, who has lived in exile in Russia since early 2014. Denis Voronenkov, a former member of the Russian state Duma, or parliament, had obtained Ukrainian citizenship in October in exchange for agreeing to testify against former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday evening — less than 72 hours before his death — Voronenkov complained about anonymous threats against him and his wife, Maria Maksakova, a former member of the United Russia party founded by Putin, with whom he fled to Kiev last year. Voronenkov – a former Russian MP who had previously testified against the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and criticized Vladimir Putin’s policies – was shot three times with a 9mm handgun in broad daylight in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted the claims, stating that “all falsehoods that can already be heard about much-hyped Russian involvement are absurd.”

The murder was quickly denounced as an act of Russian violence, with Ukranian MP Volodymyr Ariev accusing Putin of “spreading fear all over the world”:

Meanwhile, Ilya Ponomarev, another former Russian MP exiled in Ukraine and fellow critic of Putin, confirmed he had been on his way to meet Voronenkov before hearing news of his murder. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the murder of Denis Voronenkov, a former member of Russia’s Communist Party who fled to Kiev in October 2016, an “act of state terrorism by Russia.”

A suspected assailant was arrested after Voronenkov was shot twice in the head, dying on the spot.
A former Ukrainian soldier assassinates former Russian Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. In December 2016, he received Ukrainian citizenship. Ilya Ponomarev says Voronenkov was heading to a meeting with him.