Deputy Sergey Yushenkov Shot Near His House in Moscow

The murder might be explained with his political activities

A deputy of the Russian parliament, one of the leaders of the Liberal Russia party, Sergey Yushenkov, was killed on Wednesday night in Moscow.

Sergey Yushenkov was shot in the chest at 6:49 p.m. Moscow time near his house in Svoboda Street. The politician died of the wounds the same day. The building, in which Yushenkov lived, is adjacent to the prefecture building. A source at the prefecture said that the deputy drove up to his building, got out of the car, and then was killed on his way to the building. According to an anonymous witness, a gun with a silencer was found next to the deputy's body. Police cordons were put around the site of the crime.

Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov took the investigation of Sergey Yushenkov's murder under his personal control. Official spokesman for the Office of the Prosecutor General Leonid Troshin said that most experienced and qualified investigators of the Office had already started working on the case.

As it is supposed, Sergey Yushenkov's death might be linked to his political activities. It is also worth mentioning here that Yushenkov was in a close contact with Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. It was Berezovsky, who funded Yushenkov's party, Liberal Russia. It was Sergey Yushenkov, who brought tapes to Moscow, on which Berezovsky accused the Russian FSB of being allegedly implicated in organizing acts of terrorism in Moscow and Volgodonsk in 1999 (apartment buildings explosions). Berezovsky could entrust such an action only to someone he could rely on.

However, relations between Sergey Yushenkov and Boris Berezovsky worsened a lot after the oligarch's wish to collaborate with the left-wing opposition. Berezovsky was eventually expelled from Liberal Russia. However, the party ran its activities on Berezovsky's money, and no one was going to give it back. It is not ruled out that they could not forgive Yushenkov for that. In addition to that, the Russian Office of the Prosecutor General has been striving for Boris Berezovsky's extradition. Sergey Yushenkov was one of the witnesses, one of the well-informed witnesses, to be more precise.

It is also worth mentioning that Sergey Yushenkov stated on April 17th that his party, Liberal Russia, was ready for the pre-election campaign. Probably, there is a connection between these two events as well.