The body of former Tiraspol mayor Andrei Bezbabcenko was found near an abandoned rural building in Odessa Oblast, Ukraine. According to local press reports, Bezbabcenko had his hands tied before dying a violent death.

Andrei Bezbabcenko’s disappearance was announced by his wife on Tuesday.

Bezbabcenko had run a construction and investment company in Tiraspol since 1990. In 2016, he supported the eventually insuccesul re-election bid of the so-called president of the unrecognized Transnistrian republic Yevgeny Shevchuk. Reportedly, this support created powerful enemies for Bezbabcenko in Sheriff corporation. Both Shevchuk and Bezbabcenko had to flee the region, with the latter finding refuge in Ukraine.