MOSCOW. Feb 22 (Interfax) - Police in Russia's southern Krasnodar Territory are actively searching for persons accused of involvement in an assassination attempt on Anapa Cossack Force chief Nikolai Nesterenko, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Interfax on Friday.
"The criminal police head of the Krasnodar Territory and the best detectives of the Interior Ministry's local branch will take part in the search and detention of persons suspected in this crime on the spot," the spokesman said.
"A search operation is under way in Anapa," he said.
The press service of the Russian Investigative Committee's regional branch said earlier that a criminal inquiry had been started following an attack on Nesterenko and the murder of his driver.
Nesterenko's Toyota Camry car pulled up outside the Cossack chief's house this morning, the press service.
After Nesterenko got into the car, several shots were fired at him and his driver by an unknown attacker from a considerable distance, it said.
The driver died from wounds to his head on the spot, and Nesterenko was injured.
The Krasnodar Territory administration, for its part, has denied news reports claiming that Nesterenko is a candidate for the post of Anapa mayor.
"Nesterenko is a businessman and public figure well known in the city. He is a Cossack force chief. He had no intention of running in Anapa's mayoral election, due to be held this year," an administration spokesman said.