Putin's puppet leader found dead at home in suspected murder

Oleg Khorzhan, 47, was found dead at his Transnistria home; it has been reported that he may have been shot or stabbed and was first discovered dead by his wife, The Sun reported on Monday.

Gennady Zyuganov said: "Oleg Khorzhan has died… killed at home. We demand an investigation be immediately begun."

The Pridnestrovskiy Lesnik Telegram channel said: "Khorzhan’s wife found his corpse near a safe that was left open in one of the rooms of his house. The safe was empty. Did they open the safe to make it look like the murder was committed for the sake of robbery? That would be absurd."

Khorzhan served as the Communist Party's leader in Transnistria, a nation that was being protected by 1,500 Russian army "peacekeepers," and, following a four-year prison sentence for assaulting a public servant, the pro-Russian politician entered politics again with Moscow's support.

He was freed eight months ago, and people refer to him as a "Moscow proxy."

The region, which has been autonomous since the end of the Soviet Union, has survived, according to Khorzhan, "only with Russia's assistance." A prompt investigation into the circumstances of his death was demanded by the leader of the Russian Communist Party.

Khorzhan, the head of the opposition, went to Moscow earlier this year, and upon his return, he claimed that leading pro-Putin politicians had assured him of "maximum support for our republic from Russia."

In a similar case, Vadim Krasnoselsky was the target of an alleged assassination attempt earlier this year, which Transnistria's authorities claimed to have foiled.

They claimed that the Ukrainian secret service was behind the plot, but the accusation was soon refuted by Ukraine, which described it as "a provocation planned by the Kremlin."

Russia has been charged by Moldova with using the breakaway state of Transnistria to destabilise the nation. According to some experts, Putin's plans to establish a new empire include an invasion of Moldova, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union.

Khorzhan's suspected murder follows the murder of a Russian naval captain who was found using a popular fitness app and shot dead by a hitman.

Additionally, Stanislav Rzhitsky, who had recently served as an official in charge of mobilisation for Putin's war against Ukraine, was shot four times as he ran close to the Olympus Arena in Krasnodar.

Seven bullets from a Makarov pistol were fired at him, striking him in the back and chest.

Following the confirmation of Rzytskyi's death by Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, retaliation speculation increased.