Transnistria Communist Party Leader Found Dead in His Home

Oleg Khorzhan, the leader of the Communist Party of Transnistria, was found dead in his home on Monday morning, government officials said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Transnistria announced in a press release on its website that the body of Khorzhan, 47, was found "with signs of violent death" at his home in Sucleia, a village in the Slobozia district of Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria.

Transnistria is a 249-mile-long strip of land at the border with Ukraine. It is inhabited by some 470,000 people and is internationally recognized as part of Moldova but has been under the control of separatists since 1992.

Khorzhan was found dead by his wife next to an open safe, the Interior Ministry said, noting that the safe was "empty."

His death was also announced by the leader of Russia's Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, who suggested Khorzhan was murdered.

"Tonight, our leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party, Oleg Khorzhan, died. ... He was killed at home, we demand to immediately begin an investigation and sort it out," Zyuganov told reporters during a press briefing, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The Interior Ministry said an investigation has been launched into Khorzhan's death.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation said in a separate statement that it received reports of "the murder of Oleg Khorzhan, leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party and a former member of the Supreme Council of Transnistria."

"The details are being investigated," it said in a post on Telegram.

Khorzhan headed the Communist Party of Transnistria since 2004 and was a member of the Transnistrian parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was sentenced in 2018 to 4.5 years in prison for using violence against a government official, and was released in December 2022, independent Latvia-based news outlet Meduza reported.

Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministry of Transnistria for comment via email.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic that shares a border with Ukraine, has had Russian troops in its breakaway region of Transnistria throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian troops have remained in the region as part of a 1992 ceasefire that came after a two-year conflict.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, some have raised concerns that Moscow could try to take control of Transnistria.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused Ukraine in February of planning to stage a false flag attack as part of an attempt to invade the breakaway region.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed at the time that Ukraine was preparing an "armed provocation" against Transnistria—claims swiftly rejected by the Moldovan government.

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Update 07/17/23, 10:28 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.