Russian diplomat shot dead in Abkhazia

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

MOSCOW, Sept. 9 -- A Russian diplomat was shot fatally by an unidentified gunman in the Abkhazian capital of Sukhumi on Monday.

Dmitry Vishernev, first secretary of the Russian consulate in Sukhumi, was shot in the head at 8:30 a.m. Moscow time (0430 GMT), when he drove out of the garage, the Interfax news agency quoted a local police spokesman as saying.

Vishernev's wife, also in the car, was wounded and admitted into hospital.

A criminal inquiry has been opened "on counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms," Sukhumi Prosecutor Alisa Bigvava told Interfax.

Abkhazia, along with South Ossetia, reasserted their independence in the wake of the August 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia in South Ossetia, but Georgia insists on its sovereignty over the two regions and considers them as under Russian occupation.

• Japanese contractor shot dead in Kenya's Mombasa
• Man kills himself after firing shot at Houston airport
• 3 shot at Texas college

We Recommend

• Mountain of garbage in Nairobi
• Highlights of MAKS 2013 Int'l Aviation and Space Show
• 10th China-ASEAN Expo opens in Nanning
• Eagle Boy takes to sky to break another record
• 12-year-old boy becomes pillar of the family
• Eye-gouged boy receives blind rehabilitation in Shanxi
• Top 10 naked hotels in the world
• The most gorgeous Chinese women in the eyes of foreigners
• A collection of bizarre rooftop buildings around China