The governor of Russia’s far eastern region of Magadan, Valentin Tsvetkov, was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Friday in central Moscow, police told AFP.
The killing, on Moscow’s Novy Arbat shopping thoroughfare, is the second involving a politician in less than two months, following the assassination of State Duma deputy Vladimir Golovlev on August 21, also in Moscow.
The shooting occurred at about 9:15 am (0515 GMT) near the Moscow office of the Magadan regional administration. Tsvetkov’s deputy was also attacked but escaped unhurt, NTV television reported.
Magadan is a largely isolated region on Russia’s northern Pacific shoreline, the site of a notorious Stalin-era prison colony. With a rapidly declining population, the region’s economy is dependent on gold mining.
Tsvetkov (54) was first elected regional governor in November 1996, and was re-elected in November 2000. – Sapa-AFP