A top Ukrainian politician has been shot dead by a gunman in broad daylight.

An urgent manhunt is underway for the masked killer of former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy, 54.

The shooting occurred in Lviv, western Ukraine, with the masked gunman firing multiple shots, killing the politician on the spot.

Mr Parubiy was a member of parliament, had been parliamentary speaker from April 2016 to August 2019, and was one of the leaders of protests in 2013/14 calling for closer ties with the European Union.

He also served as secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council from February to August 2014, a period when fighting began in eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.

Following his death, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Andriy Parubiy was killed. My condolences to his family and loved ones.

"Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko have just reported the first known circumstances of the horrendous murder in Lviv.

"All necessary forces and means are engaged in the investigation and search for the killer."

Mr Parubiy was gunned down in Lviv

A murder investigation has been launched by local police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Local police have announced that a well-known "public and political figure born in 1971" had been killed before Mr Parubiy's identity was revealed.

They said: "Law enforcement officers are taking all measures to establish the identity of the shooter and his location.

"All details will be disclosed in the manner and to the extent stipulated by criminal procedural legislation"

Officials have given no immediate indication whether the murder had any direct link to Russia.

MP Iryna Gerashchenko, from the same party as the murdered politician, blamed Moscow for the killing.

She said: "My throat tightens with rage and hatred towards the enemy. We associate this murder with his state-building pro-Ukrainian position and believe that behind this brutal crime may stand our eternal enemy and terrorist - the Russian Federation and its fifth column."

Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in for Mr Parubiy.

Mr Zelensky led the tributes for Mr Parubiy

Former President Petro Poroshenko said it was "a shot fired at the heart of Ukraine".

He added: "Andriy was a great man and a true friend. That is why they take revenge, that is what they are afraid of."

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described Parubiy as "a patriot and statesman who made an enormous contribution to the defence of Ukraine's freedom, independence and sovereignty.

"He was a man who rightfully belongs in the history books."