KYIV (Reuters) – The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, who was a member of a pro-Russian opposition political party, was found dead in his house with a gunshot wound on Sunday.
It was unclear whether Konstantin Pavlov’s death was a murder or suicide. The National Police of Ukraine said it was establishing the circumstances of the death and had opened a criminal case.
Pavlov, 48, is a member of the Opposition Platform – For Life party. He was elected mayor of Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine which is also the hometown of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, last December.
Pictures posted on social media by Pavlov’s fellow party member, Vadim Rabinovich, showed the mayor lying on the floor at the entrance to his residence, with a gun next to his left leg.
Artem Marchevsky, general producer of 112 Ukraine TV channel and also a member of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, said Pavlov was found with a gunshot wound to the head.
Opposition Platform – For Life is one of the main opposition parties in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Ilya Zhegulev; editing by Andrey Ostroukh and Susan Fenton)
