KYIV, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian officials said on Monday they suspected Russia of involvement in the murder of former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy after a suspect was detained.

National police head Ivan Vyhivskyi said the gunman had disguised himself as a courier and fired eight times in Saturday’s attack in the western city of Lviv.

“He spent a long time preparing, watching, planning and finally pulling the trigger … There is Russian involvement,” he said on Facebook, without providing evidence.

Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine since early 2022, has not commented, and there has been no claim of responsibility for the killing of 54-year-old Parubiy, a leading figure in protests that helped to oust a pro-Russian president in 2014.

Vadym Onyshchenko, regional chief of the SBU intelligence service, said the murder looked like a contract killing.

“We have information indicating the possible involvement of the Russian Federation’s security services in organising the murder,” he said in a statement published by the SBU.