April 17, 2003

Wild Wild East

Russian political reformer Sergey Yushenkov, head of the "Liberal Russia" party and deputy in the State Duma lower chamber, was killed in a gangland-style execution on the streets of Moscow this evening. Pravda says that "[a]s it is supposed, Yushenkov's death might be linked to his political activities." [PRAVDA.Ru]. No shit, Sherlock!

Really, there's no question he was rubbed out, only whether Russian President Vladamir Putin can be linked to the assasination. The Liberal Russia party was founded last year with the financial backing of Boris Berezovsky, a self-exiled tycoon and opponent of Putin. Yushenkov's murder comes just one day after Liberal Russia announced it would challenge the Putin government in elections. Salon quotes Viktor Pokhmelkin, co-chairman of Liberal Russia, as saying he is certain it was a contract killing.

"It has the obvious handwriting of a professional," Pokhmelkin told Rossiya television, referring to the gun left at the scene -- considered a typical taunting gesture of hired killers in Russia.

And such a high-profile killing stands out even in a country where murders of politicians and businessmen are relatively common, observes BBC's Russian affairs analyst Stephen Dalziel.

So the new East is acting a lot like the Wild, Wild West. And we thought there was anarchy in Baghdad.

 Posted by glenn

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