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Kremlin Governor Andrej Tschibis: The background to the attack is being investigated
Photo: Ilya Pitalev / SNA / IMAGO
In northwestern Russia, an unknown attacker stabbed the governor of the Arctic region of Murmansk in the stomach. According to authorities, the high-ranking politician, 45-year-old Andrej Tschibis, was seriously injured in the attack. He underwent emergency surgery in the hospital and was in a difficult condition, said the treating doctor.
The alleged perpetrator was injured when he was arrested by security forces and was also receiving medical help, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday night. The background to the attack is being investigated.
Attack after community meeting
According to investigators, Chibis met with citizens in the town of Apatity on the Kola Peninsula, south of the northern port city of Murmansk. As he was leaving the town hall, he was attacked with a knife by a resident. In order to clarify the motives for the crime, eyewitnesses would be interviewed, it was said.
Local media reported that the suspect was a 42-year-old railway employee who said that an inner voice had ordered him to attack the governor. According to the investigative committee, the man is said to have spoken of “antipathy” against the governor as the reason for the crime. Assassinations of representatives of the power apparatus are rare in Russia.
A spokeswoman for the governor said on Russian state television that Chibis went to his car himself after the attack. He was then driven to the hospital and informed his wife himself to calm her down. The suspect is being interrogated, the spokeswoman said.
In a video message after he woke up after the operation, Tschibis thanked the doctors. "I'll now recover and then get back to work," he said in the video that was published on the online service Telegram.
mrc/dpa/Reuters