Mystery as putin’s ‘moscow proxy’ in breakaway region assassinated in own home

The Communist Party leader in Transnistria, a breakaway area of Moldova with close ties to Russia, has been discovered dead at his house by his wife. Oleg Khorzhan, 47, was discovered with

reports that he had been stabbed or shot. Transnistria is a self-governing state patrolled by 1,500 Russian army "peacekeepers," and it is frequently perceived as being influenced

by Russian interests. Khorzhan, a well-known "Moscow proxy," returned to politics with Moscow's support after serving a four-year prison sentence for violence against a

government official. He was let out of prison eight months ago. Khorzhan regularly claimed that the region's survival largely relied on Russia's support and help. Gennady Zyuganov,

the head of the Russian Communist Party, demanded an immediate and in-depth investigation into the circumstances leading up to Oleg Khorzhan's apparent murder. "Oleg Khorzhan has

died... killed at his home," declared Zyuganov. "We demand that an investigation start right away." According to the Pridnestrovskiy Lesnik Telegram channel, Khorzhan's

wife found his dead body in one of their home's rooms, close to an unlocked safe. The post added: "The safe was empty. Did they open the safe to make it look like the murder was

committed for the sake of robbery? That would be absurd." When opposition leader Khorzhan visited Moscow earlier this year, he asserted that he was given guarantees of "maximum

support for our republic from Russia" by well-known pro-Putin lawmakers. Authorities in Transnistria claimed to have prevented a plot on their president, Vadim Krasnoselsky, that same

year. They claimed that the effort had been planned by the Ukrainian secret service. The accusation was, however, rejected by Ukraine as "a provocation orchestrated by the

Kremlin." Additionally, Moldova has charged Russia with using Transnistria as a tool to destabilise the nation as part of a bigger plan. It comes as a pre-dawn damaged a bridge linking

Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea that is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, forcing the span’s temporary closure for a second time in less than a year. Two people

were killed and their daughter was injured. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered increased security at the 19-kilometre (12-mile) Kerch Bridge, repeating a call he made in October 2022

when the span was severely damaged by an explosion that Moscow also blamed on Kyiv. He also promised, "there will be a response from Russia, of course". “What happened is another

terrorist act of the Kyiv regime,” Putin said at a televised meeting with officials. "It is a crime that is pointless from the military point of view, it bears no significance because

the Crimean bridge hasn’t been used for military means in a long time, and it is brutal, because blameless civilians were injured and killed."