Ukrainian President Says 'Matter Of Honor' To Solve Former Russian Lawmaker's Slaying

A Ukrainian police expert retrieves a gun at the scene where Denis Voronenkov was shot dead in the center of Kyiv on March 23.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says it is "a matter of honor" to successfully investigate the killing of former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov in Kyiv.

Speaking at Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) training facilities near Kyiv on March 24, Poroshenko called on law enforcement and security structures to join efforts to solve the case.

"It is a matter of honor for Ukrainian law enforcment organs" to solve Voronenkov's killing, as well as the July 2016 killing of journalist Pavel Sheremet, Poroshenko said.

He also called for the authorities to determine the cause of a huge fire that broke out at a munitions depot near Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on March 23.

Voronenkov, who moved to Ukraine last year and had criticized the Russian government, was shot dead in central Kyiv on March 23.

On March 23, Poroshenko called the killing "an act of state terrorism on the part of Russia."

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Twitter on March 24 that it was "in support of a full and impartial investigation [of Voronenkov's killing] that will bring those responsible to justice."

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer on March 24 expressed hope that Voronenkov's killing will be fully and thoroughly investigated.

With reporting by UNIAN and DW