From 1998, she initiated and organized the annual student competition "Language is a foundation of your life" (Ukrainian: Мова – твого життя основа, romanized: Mova – tvoho zhyttya osnova).

[27] At the same time she also successfully balloted to the Lviv regional council, where Farion was a deputy chairperson of the commission on education and science.

[29] In July 2015, the Investigative Committee of Russia filed a criminal case against Farion on the charges of "incitement to murder" and "extremist statements" that she allegedly made on a public rally on 15 October 2014.

[30] In the July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Farion again failed to return to parliament after finishing fifth with 10.35% of the vote in electoral district 116 in Lviv Oblast.

[33][34] Farion also published a letter by a supporter in the occupied Crimean Peninsula;[34] she did not blur his name, causing him to be detained by Russian authorities.

[35] This caused public outrage, including criticism from politician Tamila Tasheva,[36][37] and student protests at Lviv Polytechnic, but the institute refused to fire her.

[34] On 15 November, the SBU opened an investigation against her on the counts of discrimination, insulting the dignity of a serviceman, violation of confidentiality of correspondence, and breach of inviolability of private life,[39][36] and she was relieved of her position at Lviv Polytechnic.

[42][47][48] Ukraine's interior minister Ihor Klymenko stated that the murder was premeditated and the main motives the investigators were considering were either her political and social activity or a personal dislike.

[49][4][50] On 25 July 2024, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the arrest of the suspected gunman in Dnipro, Vyacheslav Zinchenko, an 18-year-old male.

[51][52][53] The suspect was following several far-right and neo-Nazi Telegram channels including Yevhen Karas' S14 and Right Sector, and was trying to enlist in the 3rd Assault Brigade.

[55] The suspect's father, who was fighting on the Ukrainian front line, said his son did not have anti-Ukrainian views and was a patriot who was preparing to join the army.

[57] According to the suspect's mother, her son is an admirer of Stepan Bandera, speaks good Ukrainian, and therefore the accusations against him are just a "political game".

[60] In July 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that the investigation in the case of the murder found a shell of a sports bullet at the scene.

[72] Politician Yaroslav Yurchyshyn called for the banning of Russian-affiliated religious organizations, stating it would be the "best immediate tribute to Iryna Farion's memory.

"[23] Multiple public figures, including rapper Oleksandr Yarmak, singers Maria Burmaka, Iryna Fedyshyn and Khrystyna Soloviy, TV presenter Olha Freimut, actor Rymma Zyubina and writer Oksana Zabuzhko wrote tributes to Farion.

[74][75] According to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, "Iryna Farion's extreme nationalist views have long made the Lviv linguist and Svoboda [Freedom] Party politician a controversial figure.

[81] In October of 2018, Farion called ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattia Oblast "retards" and suggested that they "go back to Hungary",[82][83] while comparing them to "dogs who cannot learn the language of Bandera".

[83] In February 2010, on International Mother Language Day, Farion was filmed instructing kindergartners to avoid using Russian names.

[88] One deputy from the Party of Regions asked the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to file a criminal case against her on the grounds of language-based and nationality-based discrimination.