After a holiday weekend that saw two deputies killed and a third seriously injured in a car accident, it is clear that some candidates for office are marked men in Russia.
The question is whether the violence is political or economic.
Vitaly Savitsky, the leader of the Christian-Democratic Union and the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Religious Affairs, became the third deputy to be killed in less than three weeks when his chauffeur-driven car collided with another in St. Petersburg on Saturday as it made a left turn through traffic.
Savitsky, who had been seated in the back seat on the right side, was killed instantly. A female aide who had been seated in the front suffered two broken bones. The driver was not injured.
Savitsky's aides suspect the chauffeur, who was hired by Mayor Anatoly Sobchak's office, of intentionally causing the accident.
His death came just one day after another candidate, Mikhail Lezh Shabad, a State Duma member and an influential member of the Russia's Choice party, suffered a concussion and several broken bones when he was struck by a car as he was crossing the street in downtown Moscow. He is recovering in a Moscow hospital and is tentatively scheduled to be released in three weeks, said aides, who added that they did not suspect foul play.
The auto accidents involving Savitsky and Shabad came shortly after a parliament member, Grigory Beryozkin, said Friday that he had been approached by criminals who offered to kill his opponents by means of a car crash for a price of $7,000.
Both Savitsky and Lezhnyov were active in business as well as politics, and aides for both said Wednesday that economic reasons as well as political reasons could be involved.
"I can't rule out either politics or business as a motive," said Vladislav Fronin, a spokesman for Lezhnyov's party, Our Home Is Russia. "I will say this, however: Both Lezhnyov and Savitsky had a 100 percent chance of being re-elected."
Fronin noted that, since his party has already been the subject of a number of violent attacks, including destruction of party headquarters in the city of Muram, it was easier to believe a theory of politically motivated murder.
But he added that Lezhnyov -- a major dealer in the poultry industry who sold chickens in Chelyabinsk under banners which read "Buy it, Try it, Vote Lezhnyov" -- was also a wealthy man who could easily have been killed for business reasons.
Alexander Kolistov, the chief assistant to Savitsky, ascribed both political and economic motives to Savitsky's killing, saying that candidates are resorting to violence not only to secure office, but to protect the rewards of that office.
"Vitaly Savitsky intended to do away with criminal immunity for deputies," he said. "It would seem clear that this was why he was killed. The majority of candidates opposed him."
However, Kolistov added that he and many other colleagues of Savitsky speculate that his death was connected to the Oct. 1 killing of Ivan Lushchinsky, the former head of Baltic Sea Shipping. He declined to elaborate on the reasons for this supposition.
Baltic Sea Shipping, the nation's largest marine transport conglomerate, has been the focus of police investigations since its former head, Viktor Kharchenko, was arrested in a money-laundering scheme involving stolen Mercedes cars in 1993.
Savitsky had been a strong proponent of establishing traditional religious values in government, and had occasionally clashed with the shipping company over environmental issues.
Sergei Koveshnikov, an aide to Shabad, said he did not believe foul play was involved in his boss's accident.
"If this had been foul play, there wouldn't have been any foul-ups, and they would have killed him," he said, adding that the driver involved did not leave the scene.
Koveshnikov went on to say that he thought most of the murders involving politicians were the result of business disputes.
"If you look at the statistics, you'll find that in the vast majority of cases, the ones who are being killed are the ones who are connected in some way to big money and big business," he said.
Koveshnikov also said that he had heard Beryozkin's announcement of how he had been offered the services of hitmen to remove his opponents, and taken it into consideration.
"Even if it had nothing to do with Anatoly Shabad, it tells you how dangerous in general it is to be a deputy these days," he said.
Kolistov assigned even greater importance to Beryozkin's announcement. "We didn't pay too much attention to [the announcement] when it came out," he said. "But after what happened, I would say it's entirely possible that had some relevance to Vitaly Savitsky's death."
St. Petersburg police called Savitsky's death an accident and have not launched a homicide investigation. Traffic police are, however, investigating a charge of "making an improper left turn" against Savitsky's driver.
Still, Savitsky's aides have called his death a murder and announced their intention to start a parliamentary inquiry.
The question is whether the violence is political or economic.
Vitaly Savitsky, the leader of the Christian-Democratic Union and the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Religious Affairs, became the third deputy to be killed in less than three weeks when his chauffeur-driven car collided with another in St. Petersburg on Saturday as it made a left turn through traffic.
Savitsky, who had been seated in the back seat on the right side, was killed instantly. A female aide who had been seated in the front suffered two broken bones. The driver was not injured.
Savitsky's aides suspect the chauffeur, who was hired by Mayor Anatoly Sobchak's office, of intentionally causing the accident.
His death came just one day after another candidate, Mikhail Lezh Shabad, a State Duma member and an influential member of the Russia's Choice party, suffered a concussion and several broken bones when he was struck by a car as he was crossing the street in downtown Moscow. He is recovering in a Moscow hospital and is tentatively scheduled to be released in three weeks, said aides, who added that they did not suspect foul play.
The auto accidents involving Savitsky and Shabad came shortly after a parliament member, Grigory Beryozkin, said Friday that he had been approached by criminals who offered to kill his opponents by means of a car crash for a price of $7,000.
Both Savitsky and Lezhnyov were active in business as well as politics, and aides for both said Wednesday that economic reasons as well as political reasons could be involved.
"I can't rule out either politics or business as a motive," said Vladislav Fronin, a spokesman for Lezhnyov's party, Our Home Is Russia. "I will say this, however: Both Lezhnyov and Savitsky had a 100 percent chance of being re-elected."
Fronin noted that, since his party has already been the subject of a number of violent attacks, including destruction of party headquarters in the city of Muram, it was easier to believe a theory of politically motivated murder.
But he added that Lezhnyov -- a major dealer in the poultry industry who sold chickens in Chelyabinsk under banners which read "Buy it, Try it, Vote Lezhnyov" -- was also a wealthy man who could easily have been killed for business reasons.
Alexander Kolistov, the chief assistant to Savitsky, ascribed both political and economic motives to Savitsky's killing, saying that candidates are resorting to violence not only to secure office, but to protect the rewards of that office.
"Vitaly Savitsky intended to do away with criminal immunity for deputies," he said. "It would seem clear that this was why he was killed. The majority of candidates opposed him."
However, Kolistov added that he and many other colleagues of Savitsky speculate that his death was connected to the Oct. 1 killing of Ivan Lushchinsky, the former head of Baltic Sea Shipping. He declined to elaborate on the reasons for this supposition.
Baltic Sea Shipping, the nation's largest marine transport conglomerate, has been the focus of police investigations since its former head, Viktor Kharchenko, was arrested in a money-laundering scheme involving stolen Mercedes cars in 1993.
Savitsky had been a strong proponent of establishing traditional religious values in government, and had occasionally clashed with the shipping company over environmental issues.
Sergei Koveshnikov, an aide to Shabad, said he did not believe foul play was involved in his boss's accident.
"If this had been foul play, there wouldn't have been any foul-ups, and they would have killed him," he said, adding that the driver involved did not leave the scene.
Koveshnikov went on to say that he thought most of the murders involving politicians were the result of business disputes.
"If you look at the statistics, you'll find that in the vast majority of cases, the ones who are being killed are the ones who are connected in some way to big money and big business," he said.
Koveshnikov also said that he had heard Beryozkin's announcement of how he had been offered the services of hitmen to remove his opponents, and taken it into consideration.
"Even if it had nothing to do with Anatoly Shabad, it tells you how dangerous in general it is to be a deputy these days," he said.
Kolistov assigned even greater importance to Beryozkin's announcement. "We didn't pay too much attention to [the announcement] when it came out," he said. "But after what happened, I would say it's entirely possible that had some relevance to Vitaly Savitsky's death."
St. Petersburg police called Savitsky's death an accident and have not launched a homicide investigation. Traffic police are, however, investigating a charge of "making an improper left turn" against Savitsky's driver.
Still, Savitsky's aides have called his death a murder and announced their intention to start a parliamentary inquiry.