MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) – A murder investigation has been opened into the shooting death of Andrei Uvarov, deputy head of the department of science, industrial policy and enterprise for the Moscow government, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced on Saturday.
Earlier, police said that Uvarov had been found with three gunshot wounds at 23:40 local time on Friday in the entrance to a building in the western Russian city of Oryol, located about 360 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of Moscow.
“The body of 35-year-old Andrei Uvarov was found in the stairwell of a residential building on Ulitsa Novikova in the city of Oryol with three gunshot wounds to the head and torso,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement, adding that none of the official’s personal belongings appeared to be missing.
Neighbors heard shots being fired, suggesting that the perpetrator did not use a silencer, the statement said.
Investigators are working on several theories, the main one of which is currently that the murder is connected to Uvarov’s work.
A regional law enforcement agency source previously told RIA Novosti that the killer had shot the victim twice in the back and head.
A statement published Saturday on the website of the Moscow government department of science, industrial policy and enterprise, which works on economic policy for the Moscow mayor’s office, said: “We mourn the tragic loss of our colleague and friend Andrei Uvarov and offer our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”
A source at the department contacted by RIA Novosti said they could not comment because very little is known so far except that Uvarov has been killed.
