Moscow ? The governor of a gold-rich Russian region was assassinated Friday morning on the busy central Moscow street that President Vladimir Putin takes to work at the Kremlin.

Valentin Tsvetkov, 54, the governor of the Magadan region in Russia’s Far East, was shot and killed on a sidewalk near the region’s Moscow office on Novy Arbat street during early morning rush hour, according to Moscow police. It was the first time a governor has been killed in post-Soviet Russia.

“Clearly it was a contract hit,” Moscow Police Chief Vladimir Pronin said. “It was a job of a professional killer.” He said police were investigating the case as premeditated murder connected to Tsvetkov’s official position.

Putin immediately ordered Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov and Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov to take personal control of the investigation, and later called them to the Kremlin along with the deputy chief of the Federal Security Service and the chairman of Russia’s Supreme Court.

Putin characterized the killing as a “crime against the state,” the state TV network Rossiya reported.

Russia has worked to dispel its gangland image, but politicians and powerful businessmen groups that have come closer together as magnates seek office and regional leaders are enmeshed in struggles for control over mineral wealth remain targets of contract killers.

“Regrettably, lawlessness is still reigning in the country,” said Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament. “A governor was killed in the center of Moscow in the presence of numerous people on a road where Cabinet ministers travel.”

Novy Arbat, a broad thoroughfare lined with shops, restaurants and nightclubs as well as office and residential towers, is on the route Putin’s motorcade travels on its way to the Kremlin from his residence west of Moscow.

Valentin Tsvetkov, 54, governor of Russia's Far Eastern region of Magadan, is shown in this photo taken earlier this year. Tsvetkov was fatally shot Friday in Moscow.

The gunman emerged from behind an advertising board and fired at Tsvetkov and his deputy, who was not hit, said Yelena Perfilova, a spokeswoman for Moscow’s central administrative district.

The unknown assailant fled after shooting the governor in the head in front of numerous bystanders, Moscow Prosecutor Mikhail Avdyukov was quoted as telling Interfax. Police found a pistol and cartridges nearby.

Officers worked at the scene on Friday morning while Tsvetkov’s wife, Lyudmila, stood crying over her husband’s crumpled body, still laying on the ground. News programs showed graphic footage of the dead man’s body, bloodied face and wounded head.

Putin later called Tsvetkov’s wife to offer his condolences, Interfax reported.

The Magadan region, about 3,700 miles east of Moscow, has rich supplies of precious metals, particularly gold. Mironov was quoted as telling Interfax that Tsvetkov recently had overseen the construction of a gold refining plant and had made efforts to bring “gold mining under his control.”