Murder of a Russian diplomat in Sokhumi aimed at undermining stability in the region and friendly relations between Russia and Abkhazia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The first secretary of the Russian embassy in breakaway region, Dmitry Vishernev, was killed and his wife, also an employee of the embassy, badly injured after unknown gunman opened fire on an embassy car in Sokhumi early on September 9.

“Together with our Abkhazian colleagues we consider the fact of cold-blooded murder of the Russian diplomat and an attempt on his wife’s life as a heinous crime aimed at undermining friendly Russian-Abkhazian relations, peace and stability in Abkhazia and in the region, as a whole,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Breakaway Abkhazia’s foreign ministry also said earlier on September 9 that the murder of the Russian diplomat aimed at “undermining strategic and brotherly Russian-Abkhaz relations.”