VLADIVOSTOK, January 28 (RIA Novosti) - The first deputy governor of Primorye in Russia's Far East was wounded by an unidentified gunman in an apparent assassination attempt early on Monday, local police said.
The attacker, wearing camouflage and a black cap, fired two shots at Sergei Sopchuk from a Makarov semi-automatic pistol equipped with a silencer, while the official on his way to work in Vladivostok in an official car. Police failed to catch the assailant.
Sopchuk, who oversees the province's lucrative fishing industry, was taken to hospital and underwent an operation. Local police said he is now in a stable condition and his life is not in danger.
"Sergei Sopchuk, who received two gunshot wounds to the hand and shoulder, has been operated on and moved from intensive care to a normal ward," a police spokesman said.
A criminal case on charges of attempted murder has been launched. Investigators are treating the official's professional activities as a likely motivation for the crime.
Sopchuk is in charge of agriculture and fisheries, international relations, official decisions on land use, as well as housing and public utilities in the region.
Primorye Governor Sergei Darkin called the attack on Sopchuk an "attempt to intimidate authorities and society," and said he hoped police would identify the attacker in the nearest future.
