Russia's only convicted war criminal, former army Col. Yury Budanov, was fatally shot in downtown Moscow Friday in what police called a contract killing, possibly motivated by vengeance on the part of Chechens or a "provocation" aiming to stir up ethnic strife in Moscow.
The former artillery officer, who had asked for police protection after receiving threats but had been refused, was shot several times by a gunman who escaped by car with an accomplice, police said.
Most Russians appear to have forgotten about Budanov, whose case caused a bitter split in Russian society after he was arrested a decade ago and charged with kidnapping, raping, and murdering an 18-year-old Chechen girl, Elza Kungayeva, near the Chechen village of Tangi-Chu, where he was stationed during the second Chechen war.
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