A Chechen volunteer soldier who was accused of plotting to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin was wounded and his wife killed Monday when their car was strafed by gunfire near Kiev.

 

The apparent assassination was the latest involving high-profile figures in Ukraine who bitterly opposed Russia.

Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said Amina Okuyeva died and her husband Adam Osmayev was injured when their car was hit by a hail of bullets while crossing a railroad track.

"Adam Osmayev was wounded, but he will live," Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook.

"I just spoke to him by phone."

Interior ministry spokesman Yaroslav Trakalo confirmed Okuyeva's death to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

In 2012 Osmayev was accused by the Russian authorities of plotting to kill Putin.

He was held for two and a half years in a Ukrainian prison but never extradited to Russia.

Source: AFP