Ambassador Meyer to the Secretary of State.
St. Petersburg, December 28, 1906.
Sir: I beg leave to report that Count Alexei Ignatieff was assassinated December 21 at Tver while attending a meeting of the provincial zemstvo, to which he had been elected.
During a recess in the debates, when about to enter the refreshment room, he was shot by a young man. The assassin said he had acted under orders of the Socialist revolutionary committee.
Count Ignatieff was the brother of the well-known diplomat. He had been governor-general of Eastern Siberia in 1885, in 1889 assistant minister of the interior, and in 1890 governor-general of Kieff until 1897. Since then he has been a member of the Council of the Empire. He has been strongly opposed to the ukase of October 30 and was regarded as the leader of the reactionary party at the court, at one time being mentioned as a possible prime minister.
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