Millionaire Russian politician shoots and kills man he says he mistook for bear
By Rob Picheta, Niamh Kennedy and Anna Chernova, CNN
A Russian millionaire and politician has confessed to shooting a man he says he mistook for a bear.
Igor Redkin was served a two-month house arrest sentence as an interim restrictive measure for accidentally shooting the man outside a dump near the village of Ozernovsky, in the Ust-Bolsheretsky district, according to state-owned news agency RIA.
The shooting itself took place on August 2, and the man later died in hospital.
Redkin is a member of the ruling United Russia, of which President Vladimir Putin is the de facto leader.
It took the wealthy politician four days to confess to the crime, after it was reported by the regional chief executive officer of the Investigative Committee on August 6.
Speaking on August 10, Redkin told officials he was shooting at the dump in an attempt to scare off a bear but hit a man instead.
The shooting was one of two disastrous incidents connected to Redkin to take place in recent days.
On Thursday, a helicopter owned by his private company crashed into a lake in the Kamchatka peninsula in far eastern Russia, leaving eight passengers feared dead, RIA reports.
One of the wealthiest deputies in Kamchatka, Redkin owns a fleet of helicopters through the company, Vityaz-Aero.
The press service of the Emergencies Ministry (EMERCOM) in Kamchatka told state news agency TASS Thursday that “at 00:50 am Moscow time on August 12, 2021, information was received about a hard landing of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Vityaz-Aero company in the area of the Kuril Lake of the Kronotsky Reserve.”
The Russian Defense Ministry quickly sent an Mi-8 helicopter, alongside three underwater vehicles, to the site, according to RIA.
Eight people were saved, said RIA, quoting the Ministry of Defense. The eight remaining passengers are feared dead.
The news has dealt another blow to Redkin, who in addition to being charged under the article “murder,” was expelled from the United Russia party that supports Russian President Putin.
Deputy secretary of the party’s general council, State Duma deputy Yevgeny Revenko told RIA that, despite it being a case of “murder by negligence,” the party has a policy of suspending the membership of any party member involved in a criminal case.
Redkin is set to remain under house arrest until October 6.
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