The director of Drofa Publishers, Aleksandr KRUTIK, was killed by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday night outside his Moscow apartment building, reported Interfax. His bodyguard fired at the gunmen, but was uninjured in the attack.

Drofa Publisher's former deputy director, Vladimir VESHNYAKOV, was shot to death on November 14, 1996. His body was found in a parked car in Moscow's southwestern district.

Drofa Publishers puts out 80 percent of the educational literature published in Russia.

East View Notes:

Drofa received (only days prior to the killing) a government contract for several billion dollars (yes, billion) to publish textbooks. This governent contract was apparently the catalyst or someone would like it to appear to be.

It is also what propelled them to the status of publisher of 80% of Russia's textbooks.