St. Basil's Cathedral and Spasskaya Tower in Moscow. Photo: wiki commons.

Sergey Sladkov, the Director General of Osher, a Russian-Jewish business club, was found dead in Moscow this morning, LifeNews, a Russian news website, reported on Wednesday.

Sladkov was shot 19 times at close range through the windshield of his Jeep “Grand Cherokee” car and died instantly, according to the report. His body was found inside the car in a parking lot on Olonetskaya Street in central Moscow.

Police investigators have determined that the shooting occurred at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday night but, due to it taking place in a poorly lit parking lot, the body was not discovered until this morning. A search for witnesses to the murder is currently underway.

Osher is a business club primarily servicing Jewish owners of small and medium-size businesses.  Its organizers say the club offers businessmen working in different industries in Russia and abroad a chance to interact and establish useful contacts and assistance in the implementation of their business ideas.

Osher was established in 2003 and remains under the auspices of the Federation of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Russia (FJCR), a religious organization, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Russia. Headed by Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar under the umbrella of the Chabad Chasidic movement, FJCR aims to “create conditions for the full-scale religious and nationally-cultural life of citizens of Russia, who profess Judaism and identify themselves with Jewish people.” Russian-Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich is the chairman of FJCR’s Board of Trustees.