Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the detention of a suspect in the killing of a senior general in Moscow. The suspect, an Uzbek citizen born in 1995, was reportedly recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services. The FSB did not disclose the suspect's name but revealed that he confessed to being recruited by Ukrainian special services.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was tragically killed by a bomb concealed in a scooter outside his Moscow apartment building. The attack occurred a day after Ukraine's security service pressed criminal charges against Kirillov, who was also under sanctions from various countries for his involvement in Moscow's military operations in Ukraine. The FSB stated that the suspect was promised a $100,000 reward and permission to relocate to a European Union country in exchange for assassinating Kirillov.
According to the FSB, the suspect traveled to Moscow as per Ukrainian instructions, where he obtained a homemade explosive device. He then placed the bomb on an electric scooter at Kirillov's residential building entrance. The suspect rented a car to surveil the area and set up a live camera feed to his handlers in Dnipro, Ukraine. Upon spotting Kirillov leaving the building, the suspect remotely detonated the bomb.
The FSB indicated that the suspect could face a sentence of up to life imprisonment for the crime. Kirillov, aged 54, was the head of the military's nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces. He frequently accused the Ukrainian military of using banned chemical weapons and planning attacks with radioactive substances, allegations dismissed by Ukraine and its Western allies as propaganda.
The bombing, classified as an act of terrorism by Russia's top investigative agency, resulted in shattered windows and damaged brickwork at the scene. Moscow authorities vowed to hold Ukraine accountable for the attack, despite denials of using chemical weapons in Ukraine by Russia, which has accused Kyiv of employing toxic agents in combat.
