Official at Russian supplier of arms to Syria assassinated

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet photo

The deputy manager of a Russian defense equipment factory that exports goods to Syria has been assassinated in Tula close to Moscow, daily Hürriyet has reported.

Konstruktorskoye Büro Priborostroyeniye’s (KBP) deputy manager, 58-year-old Vyacheslav Trukhachev, was shot dead on one of the biggest streets in Tula.

Police have launched an investigation while his colleagues have called the event unexpected and mysterious.

KBP is one of the main defense industry producers of short- and medium-range arms in Russia.

Unidentified material seized by Turkish authorities from a Damascus-bound jet forced to land in Ankara on Oct. 10 was produced in the factory.  Turkey forced down the passenger Syrian jet, which was en route from Moscow to the Syrian capital, on suspicion that it was carrying military material.