A suicide bomber badly wounded a provincial president in Russia's North Caucasus on June 22, an assassination attempt that undermined the Kremlin's claim that it has brought stability to the predominantly Muslim region.

Yunus Bek Yevkurov was the third top official to be wounded or killed in May in the area of southern Russia around Chechnya, which was devastated by two separatist wars in the last 15 years.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Ingushetia province, where Yevkurov has tried to halt violence by Islamic militants.

A car rigged with TNT exploded as the presidential convoy traveled outside the provincial center, Nazran. The blast tore Yevkurov's armored sedan to pieces and killed two of his bodyguards.