Russian governor gunned down in central Moscow

MOSCOW -- The governor of a gold-rich Russian region was assassinated Friday morning on the busy central Moscow street that President Vladimir Putin takes to work at the Kremlin.

Valentin Tsvetkov, 54, the governor of the Magadan region in Russia's Far East, was shot and killed on a sidewalk near the region's Moscow office on Novy Arbat street during early morning rush hour, according to Moscow police. It was the first time a governor has been killed in post-Soviet Russia.

"Clearly it was a contract hit," Moscow Police Chief Vladimir Pronin said. "It was a job of a professional killer." He said police were investigating the case as premeditated murder connected to Tsvetkov's official position.

Putin immediately ordered Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov and Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov to take personal control over the investigation, and later called them to the Kremlin along with the deputy chief of the Federal Security Service and the chairman of Russia's Supreme Court.

Putin characterized the killing as a "crime against the state."

Russia has worked to dispel its gangland image, but politicians and powerful businessmen -- groups that have come closer together as magnates seek office and regional leaders are enmeshed in struggles for control over mineral wealth -- remain targets of contract killers.

"Regrettably, lawlessness is still reigning in the country," said Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.