Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of a former Russian army colonel convicted in 2003 of killing a young Chechen woman in a case that came to symbolize Russian army abuses during the conflict in Chechnya.

Yuri Budanov was shot to death in Moscow on Friday by an unknown gunman in what appeared to be a contract-style killing. He was laid to rest Monday in a cemetery outside Moscow under tight security.

Russian nationalist leaders were among those in attendance, including Vladimir Zhirinovsky, whose Liberal Democratic Party holds a significant minority of seats in parliament.

Budanov was sentenced to 10 years for kidnapping and strangling Elza Kungayeva to death in 2000.

He was released early on parole in 2009.

Kungayeva's father said Budanov's killing had nothing to do with the murder of his daughter, but described the incident as a “dog's death for a dog.”

Official investigators said the murder may have been aimed at provoking ethnic tensions between Russian nationalist groups and Chechens.