MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian diplomat working at Moscow’s embassy in the breakaway republic of Abkhazia was shot dead Monday morning, according to local law enforcement officials.

Dmitry Vishernyov, first secretary at Russia’s embassy in the regional capital Sukhumi, was killed by a gunshot to the head in the garage of his home at about 8:30 a.m., local police said. His wife was wounded in the attack and is now in hospital, a law enforcement source said.

An explosive device attached to a mobile phone was also found at the scene, a source in the regional Prosecutor’s Office told RIA Novosti.

The Russian ambassador in Sukhumi confirmed Vishernyov’s death.

“Investigative activities are underway. The embassy is keeping the situation under control,” ambassador Semyon Grigoryev told RIA Novosti.

The regional Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal case into the killing, he said.

Abkhazia de facto broke away from Georgia following a war in 1992-93, and was formally recognized as independent of Tbilisi by Russia in 2008 following a conflict in another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia. Russia has been a close ally of Abkhazia in its drive for independence and has a security assistance agreement with Sukhumi.

Political violence is not unknown in Abkhazia. In February 2012, unknown assassins tried to kill the republic’s President Alexander Ankvab in a gun and bomb attack on his motorcade.