BMG saw its revenue decline by 7.8% YoY to EUR €424 million (USD $507m) in the first half of 2025, down from €459 million in H1 2024.
That’s according to new interim figures from BMG and its parent Bertelsmann, published today (August 28).
However, the music firm says its “underlying music streaming revenue demonstrated high single-digit growth“.
In its mid-year report, Bertelsmann attributed BMG’s revenue fall to “declining revenues in the publishing and label business and portfolio changes resulting from the sale of [BMG’s] live business”.
In its own press release, BMG added: “The [revenue] decline primarily reflects the disposal of non-core businesses, including the divestment of live.”
On an organic basis – excluding the impact of acquisitions, disposals and currency effects – BMG’s revenue fell by 4.4% YoY in H1 2025.
Bertelsmann commented that this dip in organic revenues “partly reflects BMG’s strategic scaling back of lower-margin activities to focus more on digital revenue sources and long-term profitability“.
Despite the revenue decline, BMG’s operating EBITDA adjusted remained stable at €122 million ($146m), matching the €122 million recorded in H1 2024.
Significantly, that meant BMG recorded a strong EBITDA margin of 28.7% in the first half of 2025, up from 26.5% in H1 2024.
BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld said: “Our results for the first half of 2025 demonstrate the effectiveness and strength of ourBMG Next business model: disciplined, digital-first, and built for long-term value for all stakeholders.
“Our strategy is rooted in what we do best – music publishing and recorded music – while continuously building new capabilities to enhance our service.
“Our results for the first half of 2025 demonstrate the effectiveness and strength of ourBMG Next business model: disciplined, digital-first, and built for long-term value for all stakeholders.”
Thomas Coesfeld, BMG
“Innovation and technology are the engines driving how we work and how we support our artists and songwriters. We’re building a future-forward music company, uniquely positioned at the intersection of creativity and technology.”
In the full year of 2024, BMG generatedEUR €963 million (USD $1.04bn) in annual revenues, up 6.4% YoY or up 8.1% YoY on an organic basis.
Just over 51% of BMG’s €424 million revenues in the H1 2025 period were generated in the United States, with an additional 10.9% in the United Kingdom.
Revenues from Germany contributed 8.0% of the firm’s global total.
BMG generated EUR €31 million in nations outside of Europe/UK and the United States (including LATAM, MENA, and APAC), representing 7.3% of its worldwide turnover in the period.
Source: Bertelsmann interim 2025 report
Catalog acquisitions and artist signings
BMG completed 17 catalog acquisitions during the first six months of 2025, which it said were carried out in line with Bertelsmann’s “Bertelsmann Boost” strategy.
Bertlesmann said those 17 deals brought BMG’s total investment in music rights catalogs since 2021 to around EUR €1.2 billion.
Judging by figures released by the German company earlier this year, this implies that BMG spent around €100 million on catalog buys in H1 2025.
The company also made significant new signings and contract extensions in the first half of the year.
In recorded music, these included OneRepublic, Olly Murs, Evanescence, (G)i-dle, Joyce Wrice, Fredrik, and Jessi.
In BMG’s music publishing business, new signings and extensions included Gareth,James Arthur, Tom Walker, Steven Wilson, Juicy Bae, Sabotage, Robert Harvey, Alok, and Michael Schulte.
Label and publishing standouts
In its label business, BMG enjoyed success in H1 2025 with new releases from Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Jason Aldean, Wiz Khalifa, Billy Idol and Fantasy.
BMG artist Lainey Wilson won four Country Music Awards and secured the title of “Entertainer of the Year” for the second year in a row.
Three BMG catalog tracks achieved significant streaming milestones during the period. Haddaway’s “What Is Love,” LP’s “Lost on You” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” were each streamed over a billion times on Spotify, earning them induction into the Billions Club.
In the publishing business, successful releases included music by Ghost, Pashanim, CMAT, Lewis Capaldi, FKA twigs, and Pulp.
BMG songwriters also contributed significantly to major global hit singles. The company’s writers co-wrote “Die With A Smile” (co-written by Bruno Mars and D’Mile), “APT.” (co-written by Bruno Mars) and “luther” (co-written by roselilah and Kamasi Washington).
At the Grammy Awards, BMG songwriter The-Dream won a Grammy for “Album of the Year” for his co-production of Beyoncé’s global chart-topping album Cowboy Carter, while BMG songwriter Bruno Mars won the award for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” alongside Lady Gaga for “Die With a Smile.”
structural changes and brand refresh
During the first half of the year, BMG combined its sync and production music teams into a unified “Sync+” structure that provides what Bertelsmann calls “a comprehensive solution for repertoire licensing”.
This move was made in line with the firm’s BMG Next strategy.
BMG also expanded its direct licensing agreements with DSPs in H1. The firm says it additionally “advanced [our] direct-to-digital efforts to deliver measurable benefits such as improved access to listening data and audience insights, and enhanced on-platform marketing capabilities”.
Also under the BMG Next banner, the firm says it’s now leaning on GenAI to support marketing content creation, streamline workflows, and enable “more consistent” marketing across its catalog.
BMG has struck strategic partnerships with Google Cloud and OpenAI, among others, to enhance its internal tech stack.
Also in H1, BMG unveiled what it described as “a comprehensive brand refresh, marking a significant milestone in its evolution as a modern music company”.
EUR to USD conversions in this report have been made at the average rate for the period according to the European Central Bank
The Trump administration has moved to terminate almost 500 employees of federally funded news organisation Voice of America (VOA).
The step is the latest in President Donald Trump’s drive to strip back the outlet, which the White House has accused of being “radical”.
Acting CEO of VOA’s parent agency, Kari Lake, said the decision would “help reduce the federal bureaucracy, improve agency service, and save the American people more of their hard-earned money.” A union representing employees called the step illegal in a statement to the New York Times.
VOA was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda, and has become a major global broadcaster.
The outlet is overseen by the Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which said a total of 532 positions would be eliminated. The majority of those employees are from VOA, which would be left with 108 staff, according to a court filing.
The announcement late on Friday night came a day after a judge ruled the Trump administration had not followed proper procedures in its attempt to fire VOA’s director, Michael Abramowitz. The judge also ordered Lake to sit for a deposition, where she would be questioned by lawyers.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of agency employees trying to block attempts to close down VOA.
“We find Lake’s continued attacks on our agency abhorrent,” they said in a statement to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
“We are looking forward to her deposition to hear whether her plan to dismantle VOA was done with the rigorous review process that Congress requires. So far we have not seen any evidence of that, and as such we will continue to fight for what we believe to be our rights under the law.”
Most of VOA’s journalists have been on administrative leave since March but some Farsi-speaking staff were called back as war between Israel and Iran broke out this summer.
The notices will also not affect journalists working in its Office of Cuba Broadcasting division, which broadcasts news in Spanish from Miami.
Critics say Trump’s attempts to strip back VOA amount to an attack on press freedom, and impacts America’s ability to exercise soft power abroad. The administration has accused the outlet of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”.
VOA broadcasts TV, radio and digital content in almost 50 languages.
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Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.
Giancarlo Zamora from Pearland, Texas, is headed to Connecticut this fall to swim and study at the University of Bridgeport in the class of 2029. He wrote on social media:
“I am so excited to announce that I will be attending the University of Bridgeport to continue my academic and athletic career in the fall of 2025! Thank you so much to my family, coaches, and teammates for all the support. I also want to give a huge thanks to Coach Evan @ubswim_dive for giving me this opportunity! Go Purple Knights!”
Bridgeport dropped men’s and women’s swimming and diving in 2019 but announced in April 2024 that it would be bringing back both teams in the fall of 2025. They hired Evan Sholudko last July to head the program. In November, it was further announced that the Purple Knights would join Division II’s Northeast-10 Conference.
Zamora swam for Pearland High School and clocked PBs in the 100 fly (52.15) and 100 back (52.13) at the Texas UIL Region VI 6A Championships this past season. In club swimming, where he trains year-round with Sharks Swim Club, he competed in the 100/200 back and 100/200 fly at NCSA Spring Championships and swam lifetime bests in the 50 back (25.41) and 200 fly (1:53.89). At the lcm version of the same meet this summer, he hit PBs in the 50 back (28.65), 100 back (1:00.89), and 200 back (2:14.02).
Zamora represented El Salvador at the 10th World Aquatics Junior Championships in August. He competed individually in the 50 back (59th place), 100 back (67th place), and 200 fly (42nd place), and swam a leg on the 4×100 free relay (55.90 split).
Zamora will join the Bridgeport class of 2029 with Aaron Williamson, AJ Schnitzeler, Brady Stangl, Brandon George, Camilo Villalba, Christian Toussi, Darcy Higgins, Diego Carrion-Alonzo, Dillan Salgado, Henry Klode, Ignacy Olownia, Jurica Dragun, Matt Burrows, Maximiliano Pedrozo, Noah Jones, Pacôme Sidelski, Ryan Wall, and Sultanbek Azat.
His best times would have scored in the ‘A’ finals of the 100/200 fly and 100/200 back at the 2025 NE10 Championships.
Best SCY times:
200 fly – 1:53.89
100 fly – 52.15
50 back – 25.41
100 back – 52.13
200 back – 1:56.98
50 free – 23.05
100 free – 49.95
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.
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Fitter & Faster Swim Camps feature the most innovative teaching platforms for competitive swimmers of all levels. Camps are produced year-round throughout the USA and Canada. All camps are led by elite swimmers and coaches. Visit fitterandfaster.com to find or request a swim camp near you.
While machines have mastered both sight and sound, the sense of taste has proved harder to digitize. We’ve seen the creation of highly specialized artificial tongues targeting sweetness, chocolate, beer, wine or whisky, but now researchers in Beijing have developed a more generalist graphene oxide “tongue” that doesn’t just detect chemicals, it learns them. During laboratory tests, the system identified sour, salty, bitter, and sweet with nearly 99% accuracy, demonstrating that taste can be captured in digital form.
Researchers at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in Beijing, together with colleagues across China, have built a neuromorphic device that mimics one of our most personal senses: taste. Their “artificial gustatory system” uses layered graphene oxide membranes that not only sense chemicals in solution, but process the signals directly, echoing how biological taste buds and neurons work together.
Unlike most artificial senses built from solid-state electronics, taste must operate in liquid, where ions – not electrons – can carry the signal. The team tackled that challenge with a graphene oxide ionic sensory memristive device (GO-ISMD).
Inside the device’s nanoconfined channels, ions undergo interfacial adsorption and desorption that slow their motion and create a memory-like, hysteretic electrical response. This volatile short-term memory allows the same component to both detect chemicals and perform in-sensor computation in a wet, physiological environment, the first of its kind to achieve this.
When tested with voltage pulses, the device behaves much like a synapse: it can strengthen or weaken its response, show memory effects, and even remember two signals that arrive close together. The thicker the membrane, the longer this memory lasts; in some cases up to about 140 seconds, far beyond what simple ion movement would predict. To turn those dynamics into perception, the group used reservoir computing.
“Inspired by the biological taste system, we developed a smart system using our devices to ‘recognize’ chemicals based on their flavors,” explains Yon Yang, in an email to New Atlas. “The system includes three key components: a sensing input, a reservoir layer, and a single-layer fully connected neural network. The sensing input and reservoir layer are both realized through our hardware (devices). These signals are then processed by the reservoir layer, which converts them into unique digital patterns. These patterns are fed into the single-layer fully connected neural network.”
In practice, the sensing module detects flavors and converts them into electrical signals before they reach the reservoir layer. The neural network is then trained on a computer to recognize these digital patterns and save the key parameters, effectively giving the system a “memory” of different flavors it can later recall.
In their proof-of-concept, the researchers tested four representative tastants: sour (acetic acid), salty (NaCl), bitter (MgSO₄), and sweet (lead acetate). Signals from the device fed into the trained neural network achieved about 98.5% accuracy in distinguishing the tastants, with binary test accuracies ranging from 75% to 90% depending on the sample. Even beverages such as coffee, Coke, and their mixtures could be classified with strong performance.
Despite these successes, the authors emphasize that this is still a proof-of-concept demonstration. The current setup is noted as bulky, requiring large amounts of energy to function, and further miniaturization and circuit integration will be required before such systems are practical outside the lab.
“This technology perfectly bridges brain-inspired computing, chemical detection, and biologically-inspired systems,” explains Yan. “With further advances in scaling up production, enhancing power efficiency, integrating multi-sensor arrays, and developing compatible neuromorphic hardware, we anticipate transformative applications in healthcare technology, robotics, and environmental monitoring within the next decade.”
By combining sensing and computing in one aqueous device, the graphene oxide system marks a notable step for biomimetic gustation and neuromorphic engineering, as well as hints at future tools that may extend, or even reconstruct, the sense of taste.
new video loaded: Protests Grow in Indonesia After Deadly Clash With Police
By Axel Boada•
Demonstrations opposing housing allowances for Indonesian lawmakers turned into outrage against police brutality after the death of a motorcycle taxi driver during a protest.
Recent episodes in International
International video coverage from The New York Times.
International video coverage from The New York Times.
Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch celebrates scoring their first goal at Newcastle [Lee Smith/Reuters]
Who have Arsenal beaten in the Premier League so far this season?
Arsenal have yet to concede in the new campaign and last Saturday romped to a 5-0 home victory over Leeds United that was realistically decided when Bukayo Saka scored the Gunners’ second goal in first-half stoppage time.
The north Londoners opened the new season with a 1-0 win at Manchester United, although the goal came after a mistake by the home keeper in an underwhelming performance by the Gunners.
Do Liverpool still need Alexander Isak?
The Reds have had one bid for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak turned down, and manager Arne Slot has hinted a second offer could be on the cards.
The meeting between the two clubs at St James’ Park was a contentious environment fuelled by the transfer saga surrounding Liverpool’s pursuit of Isak.
But the good news for Slot is that so far, his side appears less reliant on the veteran Salah for their attacking production, thanks in no small part to their summer transfer business.
In particular, former Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Hugo Ekitike is off to a quick start at Anfield with two goals and an assist, including Liverpool’s second tally at Newcastle.
“I think he has already made a big impact in the attacking part of our game,” Slot said Friday. “Not only scoring goals but also being part of build-up situations where he was someone that started the attack or was part of us starting an attack. I’m talking about a difference a bit more than last season, although when [Luis Diaz] played there he was also a lot of times part of our build-up.”
How are Arsenal shaping up for another Premier League title bid?
Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard are already dealing with injuries, with the former two expected to miss at least several weeks.
That will put the focus on recent signings like Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze, who were acquired in part to help Arsenal combat exactly these kinds of situations.
Gyokeres scored his first two Premier League goals – including one from the penalty spot – against Leeds. Eze has yet to debut for the Gunners after completing his transfer from Crystal Palace for a reported fee just north of $80m this week.
“It’s the start of the season and we lost three of our main players, but that’s the reality,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “A very unfortunate situation, three very different situations. But that’s why we keep insisting, like everybody else, you need a big squad to be able to cope and sustain the level.”
Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring their fifth goal against Leeds United [Andrew Couldridge/Reuters]
What happened last season between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield?
The Gunners have drawn their last three trips to Anfield, but lost the last six prior to that.
It will certainly be all hands to the pump once again for Arsenal, having not won at Anfield in the Premier League since 2012.
“The favourite is always the one that won in the previous year. Someone has to come and take that crown away from them, and that’s what we, the rest, are going to try to do,” Arteta said of Liverpool’s title win.
“Very important game. You want to continue building the momentum we are in right now. Going to those grounds, against this kind of opposition, is what you want. Coming from those big games winning in a really convincing way is the objective.”
One player who could help in that regard is Eze.
“When you are next to him, you are comfortable. He’s got a big smile. He picks teams apart,” Arteta said.
“He asks you the right questions and then just let him flow with the ball and the ability he has to pick passes, to drive past people effortlessly and just to understand the timing of things, it’s very impressive.”
Head-to-head
This is the 245th meeting between the clubs.
Liverpool have won 94 of the meetings, with Arsenal claiming victory in 81 of the encounters.
Liverpool team news
Liverpool have no new injury concerns for the match.
Conor Bradley substitute appearance against Newcastle was his first of the season, while Alexis Mac Allister is available after missing the trip to St James’ Park.
Anthony Gordon was sent off for a tackle on Virgil van Dijk in that match, but the Reds captain has been passed clear to play against Arsenal.
Arsenal team news
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz will be sidelined for many weeks after picking up injuries, while skipper Martin Odegaard is a doubt for the Premier League clash, manager Mikel Arteta said on Friday.
Saka limped off during Arsenal’s 5-0 home win over Leeds United, and Arteta said he injured his hamstring. However, he will not require surgery, which kept him out for months last season.
“Bukayo is doing better but he is out for a few weeks, unfortunately. No surgery, it’s not as bad as the previous one,” Arteta told reporters.
“Obviously, it’s very unfortunate to pick it up, but it’s on the other side … Let’s see how he evolves in the next few days and weeks, repeat the scan and see where he’s at.”
Havertz injured his knee in their season opener at Manchester United and Arsenal confirmed the German underwent a minor surgical procedure.
“I think it will be weeks, but I don’t know how many months. Very unfortunate, very sad for him,” Arteta said of Havertz, who also underwent surgery on a hamstring injury earlier this year.
“He did tremendously well to recover from the previous one; he’d never had an injury before, and suddenly this happens.
“But this is our profession… we need to live with that. We lost another big player for many, many weeks, but it [surgery] was the right thing to do.”
Odegaard was also substituted early in the win over Leeds with a shoulder problem, and Arteta said he is unsure if his skipper will play a part.
“We don’t know yet. He hasn’t trained yet, and if he does, it will be tomorrow,” he said.
New recruit Christian Norgaard and Ben White are also being monitored.
A simmering feud over management of one of North America’s longest rivers reached a boiling point when the U.S. Supreme Court sent western states and the federal government back to the negotiating table last year.
Now the battle over waters of the Rio Grande could be nearing resolution as New Mexico, Texas and Colorado announced fresh settlement proposals Friday designed to rein in groundwater pumping along the river in New Mexico and ensure enough river water reliably makes it to Texas.
New Mexico officials say the agreements allow water conservation decisions to be made locally while avoiding a doomsday scenario of billion-dollar payouts on water shortfalls.
Farmers in southern New Mexico increasingly have turned to groundwater as hotter and drier conditions reduced river flows and storage. That pumping is what prompted Texas to sue, claiming the practice was cutting into water deliveries.
It will be up to the special master overseeing the case to make a recommendation to the Supreme Court.
If endorsed by the court, the combined settlements promise to restore order to an elaborate system of storing and sharing water between two vast, adjacent irrigation districts in southern New Mexico and western Texas.
Still, tough decisions await New Mexico under its new obligations.
Divvying up a dwindling resource
In 1939, when New Mexico was a young, sparsely populated state, it ratified a compact with Texas and Colorado for sharing the waters of the Rio Grande. The agreement defined credits and debits and set parameters for when water could be stored upstream.
From the San Luis Valley in Colorado to below Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico, the compact called for gages to monitor the river, ensuring downstream obligations were met.
Meeting the nearly century-old metrics has become harder as snowpacks shrink in the mountains that feed the Rio Grande. Thirsty soil soaks up more snowmelt and runoff before it reaches tributaries, warmer temperatures fuel evaporation, and summer rainy seasons that once boosted flows and recharged reservoirs are more erratic.
The equation is further complicated by growing populations. The Rio Grande provides drinking water for about 6 million people and helps to irrigate millions of acres of cropland in the U.S. and in Mexico.
While the Colorado River gets all the headlines, experts say the situation along the Rio Grande is just as dire.
Triple whammy
The proposed settlements would provide a detailed accounting system for sharing water with Texas.
New Mexico could rely on credits and debits from year to year to navigate through drought and wet periods, though it could be responsible for additional water-sharing obligations if deliveries are deferred too long.
The international group Sustainable Waters is wrapping up an extensive study on how the river’s water is being used.
Brian Richter, the group’s president, said that over the last couple of decades, New Mexico has lost more than 70% of its reservoir storage along the river while groundwater has been extracted faster than it can be replenished. Add to that New Mexico has fallen behind in its water deliveries to Texas.
Richter called it a triple whammy.
“We’re definitely in a precarious situation and it’s going to become more challenging going forward,” he said. “So I think it’s going to require sort of a major reenvisioning of what we want New Mexico’s water future to look like.”
The parties in the case say the proposed agreements will facilitate investments and innovation in water conservation.
“The whole settlement package really provides for the long-term vitality, economic vitality, for the communities in both New Mexico and Texas,” said Hannah Riseley-White, director of the Interstate Stream Commission.
New Mexico would have two years to adopt a plan to manage and share water along its southernmost stretch of the Rio Grande. The state can still pump some groundwater while monitoring aquifer levels.
“The burden is on New Mexico,” said Stuart Somach, lead attorney for Texas in the Rio Grande dispute.
All dried up
In Albuquerque, it looks grim.
It’s common to have stretches of the Rio Grande go dry farther south, but not in New Mexico’s largest city. Prior to 2022, it had been four decades since Albuquerque had seen the muddy waters reduced to isolated puddles and lengthy sandbars.
Aside from a changing climate, water managers say the inability to store water in upstream reservoirs due to compact obligations exacerbates the problem.
Many of the intricacies of managing the Rio Grande are as invisible to residents as the water itself.
Sisters Zoe and Phoebe Hughes set out to take photos during a recent evening, anticipating at least a sliver of water like usual. Instead they found deep sand and patchwork of cracked, curled beds of clay.
“It’s so dystopian. It’s sad,” Phoebe Hughes said, adding that the river isn’t so grand now.
Looking for a silver lining, the two collected pieces of riverbed clay, hoping they could fashion it into something. Other curious visitors played in the sand and walked dogs.
Downstream, Elephant Butte stands at less than 4% of capacity. The reservoir is an irrigation lifeline for farmers, fuels a hydropower station and serves as a popular recreation spot.
Reducing use
The settlements call for reducing groundwater depletions to a rate of 18,200 acre-feet per year. While that’s about one-sixth of the drinking water supplied to New York City each day, for the arid West, it’s a monumental amount.
New Mexico officials expect to achieve most of those reductions from buying water rights from willing sellers, meaning more than 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) of farmland would be retired.
Many details — and the price tag — have yet to be worked out, the general counsel for the New Mexico state engineer’s office told state lawmakers this month. The Legislature in 2023 set aside $65 million toward the settlements and related infrastructure projects, and the state is tapping additional federal dollars. But it will still need more funds, experts say.
Riseley-White said it will take a combination of efforts, including long-term fallowing programs, water conservation and more efficient irrigation infrastructure.
“There isn’t one answer. It’s going to be necessarily an all-of-the-above approach,” she said, acknowledging that there will be less water in the future.
Attorney Sam Barncastle, who worked for years on behalf of irrigators, worries small farming operations and backyard gardeners could ultimately be pushed out.
“Farmland does not come back once it’s gone,” she said.
Peppers and pecans
The overall idea is to avoid abruptly curtailing water for users, but farmers in southern New Mexico have concerns about how much water will be available and who will be able to use it.
New Mexico is the nation’s No. 2 pecan producer, and the sprawling orchards would die without consistent water. The state also is home to world-renowned chilies — a signature crop tightly woven into New Mexico’s cultural identity.
Ben Etcheverry, a board member of the New Mexico Chile Association, said farmers have transitioned to drip irrigation to save water and energy but are continually told they have to do more with even less water and pay higher rates.
“It just becomes a game of whack-a-mole while we try to do better,” he said. “Every time we do better, it seems they turn it into a punishment.”
The former speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Andriy Parubiy has been shot dead in the western city of Lviv, officials have said.
Unverified footage, purportedly of the shooting, appears to show a gunman dressed as a courier approaching Parubiy on the street, holding up a weapon as he walks behind him, before fleeing. A huge manhunt is now under way for the suspect.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Saturday’s attack as a “terrible murder” and offered condolences to Parubiy’s family.
Parubiy, 54, rose to prominence during Ukraine’s Euromaidan mass protests, which advocated closer ties with the EU and brought down pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
A special operation, codenamed Siren, has now been launched by Ukrainian authorities aimed at tracking down and arresting the suspected shooter.
“All necessary forces and means are being deployed,” Zelensky said in a statement.
Ukraine’s prosecutors said “an unidentified gunman fired several shots at the politician” and that Parubiy “died on the spot”.
BBC sources in Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies said that seven shell casings were later found at the scene.
The source also said the attacker was dressed to look like a courier for delivery company Glovo. In the video of the incident, the suspect can be seen carrying a yellow delivery bag.
The assailant is also reported to have had an e-bike.
Parubiy was a pivotal figure in the Euromaidan movement, which began after Yanukovych’s government refused to sign an association agreement with the EU in late 2013.
He organised and co-ordinated Maidan’s “self-defence” – armed teams of protesters who guarded the sprawling tent camp in the heart of the capital Kyiv.
He was injured several times during clashes with Ukraine’s riot police.
After Yanukovych’s ouster, he became secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, during a period when Russia-armed separatists began fighting in eastern Ukraine – and when Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the southern Crimea peninsula.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Parubiy joined Ukraine’s territorial defence.
He had been a lawmaker in Ukraine’s current parliament.
Ukraine’s 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”.
Sybiha added: “He was a man who rightfully belongs in the history books.”
Former President Petro Poroshenko said the killing of Parubiy was “a shot fired at the heart of Ukraine”.
“Andriy was a great man and a true friend. That is why they take revenge, that is what they are afraid of,” he wrote on Telegram, pointing to Parubiy’s contribution to building the Ukrainian army.
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