A local leader of Russia's main pro-presidential party was shot to death in Chechnya early yesterday in what the region's prosecutor said was a contract killing linked to next month's presidential election, Russian media reported. Tamara Khadzhiyeva of the United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, was killed by masked gunmen who broke into her home in Shali, southeast of the Chechen capital Grozny, the ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies reported. Three attackers entered Khadzhiyeva's home at about 3:30 a.m. (local time) and shot her at point-blank, ITAR-Tass quoted Chechnya's chief prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko as saying. Kravchenko said it was a contract killing that was "no doubt linked" to preparations for Chechnya's August 29 election to replace the region's pro-Moscow president, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in a bombing in Grozny in May. There was no claim of responsibility, and police named no suspects.
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