Several Ukrainians and a US national have been arrested on suspicion of giving the order to kill Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Roman Leshchenko, the Ukrainian interior minister said Thursday.
"The US embassy has been informed about this... All of them have been arrested," Internal Affairs Minister Denys Monastyrskiy told a news conference.
Ukrainian media said the American is believed to be the main suspect. Together with a Ukrainian woman, he ordered undercover police agents posing as would-be killers to have the 32-year-old minister beaten up and killed.
Leshchenko told reporters that he and his family had been routinely threatened since he was appointed to a government position in 2020. But he denied that the threats were related to his cabinet job.
Monastyrskiy said at the briefing that the suspects sought to seize Leshchenko's property allegedly to repay a debt he owed since the time they did business together in 2018.
Ukraine's National Police chief Ihor Klimenko said the suspects, including the US citizen, faced life in prison on charges of kidnapping, extortion, causing grievous bodily harm, and attempted murder. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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