Yury Ivanov, head of the local police investigation department, said the attack had occurred at 8:30 A.M. on Shipilovsky Proezd, in south Moscow, when the guards left their Moskvich car to carry a money bag to the post office.
"Suddenly, several men with pistols opened fire," Ivanov said.
"The guards responded with their Nagant revolvers, but apparently without success," he added.
One guard had been killed, the second severely injured and the third received minor injuries, Ivanov said.
The severely injured guard was hospitalized but his life was not thought to be in danger. "The criminals managed to escape with 133 million rubles in a BMW car," he said. Ivanov said police later found the car abandoned. Traces of blood inside indicated that one of the attackers had been injured in the exchange.
Interfax said the sum stolen amounted to 500 million rubles. This is much more than police had reported, but still far less than the amount seized in a number of similar raids listed in the daily Kommersant.
Raids on offices and banks in Moscow this year have resulted in sums of up to $870,000 being stolen.
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