Gunman kills 3 Ukrainian postal workers carrying money, steals $115,000; manhunt on

CORRECTS THE DOLLAR CURRENCY CONVERSION Dead bodies of post collectors lies near their vehicle after an attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday 10, 2015. The robber who shot three collectors took control of 2.3 million hryvnias, approximately US$115,000. (AP Photo/Andrei Markov)

Associated Press July 10, 2015 | 9:49 a.m. EDT

 

MOSCOW (AP) — An unidentified gunman shot and killed three postal workers Friday as they were transporting money in eastern Ukraine, escaping with the equivalent of $115,000, police said.


Police said a manhunt was on for the gunman who attacked the workers in the government-held city of Kharkiv, stealing nearly 2.5 million hryvnas.

The police statement did not say why the workers were transporting the money, but postal workers regularly deliver pension payments.

Both the government of Ukraine and its people have been under severe economic stress recently. Ukraine's economy is shrinking, with the IMF projecting a 9 percent contraction this year, and inflation topping 46 percent.

Kharkiv is a little more than 150 miles (250 kilometers) from the front line where Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government troops have been fighting since April 2014 in a conflict that has left 6,500 dead.

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