Vladimir Antyufeyev also known under the assumed name Vladimir Shevtsov (born 19 February 1951) is the head of the Ministry of State Security of Transnistria

Ministry of State Security (Transnistria)

The Ministry of State Security is the Transnistrian state security service. It was formed on 16 May 1992, and as of April 2010 is headed by Vladimir Antyufeyev. The ministry is headquartered in Tiraspol.-External links:* * *...

. He is a Transnistrian citizen of Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 origin born in Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...

.

Antyufeyev is the former Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 police deputy chief of criminal investigation. In August 1990, Antyufeyev was one of the organizers of a meeting of the Latvian

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

 MVD where some 80% of the Latvian police force made a decision not to recognize the Popular Front of Latvia

Popular Front of Latvia

The Popular Front of Latvia was a political organization in Latvia in late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sąjūdis movement in Lithuania....

 government and follow the Constitution of the Soviet Union

Constitution of the Soviet Union

There were three versions of the constitution of the Soviet Union, modeled after the 1918 Constitution established by the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , the immediate predecessor of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics....

 instead. These police forces would later be involved in the January 1991 events in Latvia

January 1991 events in Latvia

The Barricades were events that took place between 13 and 27 January 1991 in Latvia. Latvia, which had declared independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier, anticipated that Soviet Union might attempt to violently regain control over the country....

. For these actions the Latvian government accused Antyufeyev of "crimes against the state" in August 1991, whereupon he fled to Russia "with 200 rubles in my pocket."

In Russia Antyufeyev was assisted by Viktor Alksnis

Viktor Alksnis

Viktor Alksnis is an ethnic Latvian Russian politician and former Soviet Air Force colonel. He is the chairman of Russian Center of Free Technologies, an organization intended to promote Free Software and open standards in Russia...

, on whose recommendation he traveled to Tiraspol

Tiraspol

Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...

 to take part in the Transnistrian independence movement in September 1991 under the "Vladimir Shevtsov" pseudonym. Antyufeyev played a key role in forming the internal affairs and security organizations of the Transnistrian government.

Shevtsov's real identity was revealed by Aleksandr Lebed

Aleksandr Lebed

Alexander Ivanovich Lebed was a Russian lieutenant-general and politician. He placed third in the 1996 Russian presidential election, with 14.5% of the vote nationwide. He later served as Russia's Secretary of the Security Council and as governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia's second largest region...

 in 1997. In 2004, the prosecutor of Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

 indicted Antyufeyev for crimes against the Moldovan state and freeing an officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 accused of several assassinations. As with all other Transnistrian politicians, Antyufeyev is subject to restrictive measures by the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

.

Vladimir Antyufeyev is married to Galina Antyufeyeva, a deputy

Deputy (legislator)

A deputy is a legislator in many countries, particularly those with legislatures styled as a 'Chamber of Deputies' or 'National Assembly'.-List of countries:This is an list of countries using the term 'deputy' or one of its cognates....

 in the Transnistrian Supreme Soviet

Transnistrian Supreme Soviet

The Supreme Council of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic is the parliament of Transnistria. The unicameral legislature consists of 43 seats, all of which are determined by single mandate constituencies...

and head of the committee on legislation.

Antyufeyev has stated: "We pose a real problem to Moldova. My life's purpose is to save this land [Transnistria] for Russia".