(ANSA) - TRIESTE - The former Russian deputy Denis Voronenkov has been shot in front of a hotel in Kiev. According to police sources, a firefight took place in front of the Premier Palace hotel in Kiev. Voronenkov was coming out of the hotel with his bodyguard, about lunchtime, when a killer attacked them. The shooter killed the former deputy and injured the bodyguard, who managed to hit him back.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office confirmed later that the killer had died of wounds in a hospital, Tass agency reports. "The killer of former State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov died in a hospital," spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General Larisa Sargan wrote on her Twitter page.

President Petro Poroshenko described the murder as "an act of terrorism on the part ofRussia", according to Novinite and RawStory.com. "The clear signature of the Russian special services has appeared several times across different European capitals." Ukrainian MP Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook, RawStory reports: "This ordered political killing was carried out with the aim of frightening all of those Russian lawmakers and officials who try to leave Russia for the West or Ukraine and tell the truth about how the Russian cartel apparatus functions".

Voronenkov emigrated to Ukraine in 2016 and since December he had only Ukrainian citizenship. In March, a Moscow court ordered the arrest in absentia of the former deputy, who was charged of embezzlement by Russian authorities. TheKremlinhas confirmed that PresidentVladimir Putinhas been informed of the murder and didn't comment, Novinite reports. "This is not a topic that concerns us," stated Putin's spokesperson. (ANSA).