CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) – A politician close to the son of the leader of separatist Trans-Dnister has been fatally shot outside his apartment in the breakaway region’s capital, authorities said Tuesday.
Viktor Neumoin, who headed of the Tiraspol branch of the Patriotic Party of Trans-Dniester, was shot late Monday by a man who was waiting for him in a car outside his apartment building, the Information Ministry said.
Neumoin died immediately, the official and Trans-Dniester Lenta PMR news agency reported. Militia were searching for the suspected shooter, the agency reported. No further details were available.
The Patriotic Party of Trans-Dniester, which is pro-Russian and pro-independence, is headed by Oleg Smirnov, son of authoritarian leader Igor Smirnov who has led the region since 1990.
Trans-Dniester, a province in eastern Moldova where large numbers of Russian troops were deployed, broke away in 1992 after a bloody war with Moldova that left more than 1,500 people dead.
Russia maintains about 1,500 troops in Trans-Dniester, despite calls by the United States and the European Union to respect a 1999 pledge to withdraw them. Russian officials say Trans-Dniester is strategically important for Russia, and withdrawing the troops would cause instability.
