Oleksiy Kovalev, a former member of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s political party, was found dead at his home near Kherson on Sunday with a gunshot wound to the head, the Kyiv Post reported on Monday. Oleksiy Kovalev, a former member of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s political party, was found dead at his home with a gunshot wound to the head.Twitter/@Flash43191300 His wife was also allegedly stabbed in the neck and initial reports said she succumbed to her injuries. Kovalev was found next to a shotgun registered to his name. Kovalev had been serving in the Russian occupation government in Kherson as deputy head of the occupation government since July. Kovalev was being investigated for treason. Twitter/@maxseddon Ukrainska Pravda reported in June that Kovalev had attended a meeting between farmers in the region and Russian officials. The newspaper reported that Kovalev supported Russian efforts to annex Kherson province. “People left realizing that Russia listens to us and understands us,” he said of the June meeting, according to Ukrainska Pravda. “Apart from agricultural issues, the status of the Kherson region was also discussed – I will repeat that Russia is forever and the closest possible integration with Russia is already underway,” he said. The meeting led to reports that Kovalev — who had already been kicked out of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party in May — was being investigated on charges of treason. Kovalev narrowly escaped an attempt on his life later that month, when Ukrainian military intelligence said they blew up the former official’s car. “I can confirm that a specific action was taken,” Kirylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, said in a televised interview at the time. “The car definitely blew up.” After the discovery of Kovalev’s body on Sunday, a Ukrainian journalist working in the region said the occupation government was harming Ukrainians in Kherson. “After the liquidation of Kherson collaborator Oleksiy Kovalev in the city of Gola Prystan, where the traitor was shot yesterday, the occupiers started intensive searches and document checks,” Andrei Tsaplienko said on Telegram. “Watch out, Ukrainians.”
