Kiev , Ukraine ( CNN ) The question haunting Kiev is this : Who might be murdering allies of Ukraine 's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych ? The idea that this might be happening is not entirely new . But it muscled its way to the fore again this week with two high-profile shooting deaths in the Ukrainian capital -- one of a former member of parliament with ties to Yanukovych , the other of a Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views . Oleg Kalashnikov , the former member of parliament , was shot and killed shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday at the entrance to his apartment block . Kalashnikov , 52 , was a member of the Party of Regions , the former ruling party in Ukraine , and was close to Yanukovych . Police are investigating the death as a murder . A day later , on Thursday , journalist Oles Buzyna , 45 , was killed near his home by shots fired from a dark blue Ford Focus , Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said . The car 's license plates were reported to have been from either Latvia or Belorussia . The killings renewed speculation , sparked by earlier unusual deaths , about a conspiracy to kill people close to Yanukovych . At least three former members of parliament with the Party of Regions have reportedly committed suicide in the last seven weeks : . • On February 28 , Mikhail Chechetov reportedly jumped from the window of his 17th-floor apartment in Kiev , having left a suicide note . He was suspected of having falsified the results of a parliamentary vote in early 2014 that essentially prohibited protest just as thousands of people were protesting against the Yanukovych government . • On March 9 , Stanislav Melnik , a former member of parliament with the Party of Regions and the manager of several businesses in the separatist-minded eastern city of Donetsk , was found dead in his apartment near Kiev . He , too , reportedly left a suicide note . • And three days later , on March 12 , Oleksandr Peklushenko , another former member of parliament , was found in his house in Zaporizhzhya , in southeastern Ukraine , dead of a gunshot wound . Police are investigating various scenarios , including suicide . Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said Peklushenko `` might have wanted to avoid punishment for using violence against protesters , which he was suspected of . '' Ukraine is deeply divided , and it has been for years . About a third of the population speaks Russian as opposed to Ukrainian . Whether the country should be drawn into the orbit of Russia or the West is a visceral issue , a question for many Ukrainians not of politics but of identity . Recent events have deepened the divide . In 2014 , after Yanukovych turned his back on the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia , he was driven from office by mass demonstrations . And with Russia 's subsequent annexation of Crimea and its support for Russian-speaking separatists in eastern Ukraine , the internecine animosity made the ugly transformation into war . With a government toppled and armed conflict in the east , Ukrainians have reason to want each other dead . But the view of who might be responsible for the series of deaths differs starkly , according to which side of the country 's divide one is on . The Opposition Bloc , the country 's major opposition party , has no doubt the deaths have been politically motivated -- `` bloody terror against opposition politicians and journalists , '' the bloc 's media office called them . `` It is clear oppression of those who are not afraid to criticize the government , '' it said . The government , unsurprisingly , sees things differently . Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko , who came to office after Yanukovych was ousted , has demanded an investigation of the killings of Kalashnikov and Buzyna , his media office said . `` It is evident that these crimes have the same origin , '' the media office quoted Poroshenko as saying . `` Their nature and political sense are clear . It is a deliberate provocation that plays in favor of our enemies . It is aimed at destabilizing the internal political situation in Ukraine and discrediting the political choice of the Ukrainian people . '' And Anton Geraschenko , an adviser to the country 's interior minister , took the theory one step further . `` It should not be excluded that the killings of Oleg Kalashnikov and Olez Buzyna were planned and organized from Moscow and are a part of a plan to destabilize Ukraine and further support anti-Ukrainian mood in Russian society , '' Geraschenko said .
these recent deaths heighten tensions on both sides of Ukraine 's ethnic divide . turkey 's President orders an investigation of the recent killings . The opposition calls the killings ` ` genocide , '' but the government believes Moscow may be to blame .