The Moscow Regional Court has ordered the arrest Armenian businessman Arayik Amirkhanyan in connection with the murder of former member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine, Illia Kyva, a source told RIA Novosti.

“The Moscow Regional Court has chosen detention as a preventive measure against Amirkhanyan in connection with the murder of Kyva,” said the aforesaid news agency’s interlocutor, who is familiar with the investigation.

But Amirkhanyan is already in custody in connection with a bribery case.

In early summer, he was sentenced to six years in a correctional colony and charged with a fine. The court found that the defendant had twice transferred money to a bailiff to lift the seizure from the company’s accounts in violation of the law. In late August, the appeals court upheld the aforementioned verdict.

Illia Kyva, who was accused of treason and several other charges in Ukraine, was found dead on December 6, 2023 in Suponevo village of Moscow Region, and a murder case was opened. According to investigation, an unidentified person had shot the politician in the evening at the park of a summer cottage village, and he had died on the spot.

Later, Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, had stated that Kyva was killed "during a special operation conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine."