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- A millionaire Russian politician has confessed to shooting a man in Russia's far east Kamchatka peninsula.
- Igor Redkin said he was trying to scare away a bear who had been roaming around the village's garbage dump.
- He said he later found out that he had shot a man and not a bear, and turned himself in to the police.
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A wealthy Russian politician said Tuesday that he accidentally killed a man he mistook for a bear in Kamchatka in Russia's Far East.
Fifty-five-year-old Igor Redkin was trying to scare away a bear who had been roaming the garbage dump at Ozernovsky Village on August 2, according to a statement Redkin's lawyer sent to Russian news outlet Tass.
"On August 2, there occurred a tragedy that I, Igor Redkin, was involved in despite myself. In the evening, I learned that a bear was roaming a garbage dump in the village of Ozernovsky. The animal was potentially harmful to local residents," Redkin's statement read.
"I took a gun and decided to scare it away. I shot at the bear at dusk," the statement continued.
Redkin said he later found out that a man had been shot at a time and location that matched up with his trip to the garbage dump. The politician turned himself in to the police on Tuesday, reported the Moscow Times, and Redkin said he "was prepared to accept the punishment that the court will determine."
The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Andrei Tolstopyatov by Kam 24. Tolstopyatov died in a hospital from the gunshot wound.
Tolstopyatov's widow, 26-year-old Lyudmila Tolstopyatov, told the The Mirror that her husband had been "earning money for the family" by collecting scrap metal at the garbage dump when the incident happened, adding that Redkin had not reached out to the family. Tolstopyatov and Lyudmila have a son together. Lyudmila could not immediately be reached by Insider for comment.
Redkin is a member of the United Russia Party, the ruling political party in Russia. Redkin said in his statement that he was suspending his membership with the party in order to "prevent gossip." He will not take part in next month's re-election campaign to the Kamchatka assembly, per the Moscow Times.
Redkin is one of the wealthiest known politicians in Russia, according to Tass. He declared an income of 1.5 rubles ($20.4 million) over the past three years and is the co-owner of major companies, including aviation company Vityaz Aero and seafood company Vityaz Auto, according to Kam 24. Vityaz Aero did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider.
Redkin will be placed under house arrest for two months as an investigation into the shooting takes place, per Tass.