A local legislature deputy in the Primorye region and his companion were killed by poachers after he had admonished them during a hunting trip, a representative from the town of Nakhodka's legislative body said Monday.
Local lawmaker Mikhail Pilipenko praised United Russia member Dmitry Arkushenko as an "law-abiding, sympathetic, athletic person" and said that his death was a "tragedy for all of us," RIA Novosti reported.
He said the deputy was shot by poachers who had illegally penetrated the grounds where Arkushenko was hunting.
The deputy is thought to have been shot after he had reprimanded the poachers for dragging a slain boar's body through a village on a rope and leaving a bloody trail behind. His remark led to a quarrel between the lawmaker and the poachers, who then shot him and his companion in the back, Pilipenko said.
He added that the murdered lawmaker had frequently reminded the authorities about thriving poaching in his region and urged them to take steps against illegal hunting.
Meanwhile, investigators have established during a preliminary inquiry that a suspect in the murder of the deputy had a valid hunting permit and are looking to reestablish the circumstances of the incident, the regional investigative department said.
Arkushenko will be buried on Wednesday in Nakhodka.