Businessman on trial is slain

A Russian businessman was killed by a sniper as he was escorted from a courthouse in Kiev during a break in his extortion trial, a Ukrainian government official said.

Maksim Kurochkin, 38, was hit by a bullet fired from a building next to the court, said Volodymyr Polishchuk, an Interior Ministry official. A police officer guarding the businessman was seriously wounded.

Kurochkin had said the extortion charges were fabricated. His trial was closely watched because he also had run an organization supporting pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.