A farewell ceremony has taken place in Kiev for Pavel Sheremet, the Belarusian-Russian journalist who died on July 20 in a car bombing. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended the memorial service, playing flowers on Sheremet’s casket and expressing his condolences to the celebrated journalist’s family, friends, and colleagues. The president’s chief of staff, Boris Lozhkyn, was also present, as were several members of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament.
Sheremet’s burial will take place on July 23 at the Severny Cemetery in Minsk, Belarus.
At 7:40 in the morning, on July 20, in downtown Kiev—not far from the embassies and several government offices, including the headquarters of Ukraine’s State Security Service—a car belonging to Alena Pritula, the head of the news website Ukrainskaya Pravda, exploded. The journalist Pavel Sheremet was behind the wheel. He later died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Ukrainian law-enforcement officials say they suspect the murder is connected to Sheremet’s activities as a journalist. They have also noted a “Russian evidence trail.” State prosecutors are reviewing the possibility that the attack was meant for Alena Pritula, the owner of the news website Ukrainskaya Pravda, where Sheremet worked.