Igor Kirillov: Russia detains Uzbek for assassination of general

Russian security services announced that a 29-year-old Uzbek man had been arrested for the assassination of General Igor Kirillov and his aide in Moscow.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the radiological, chemical and biological protection forces, was outside a residential building early Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.

Russia’s security service said the unnamed suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services, according to state news agencies.

Ukrainian security services have already claimed to be behind the assassination, a source told the BBC on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian source said Kirillov, who was Russia’s chemical weapons chief, was “a legitimate target” and claimed he had committed war crimes.

On Monday, the day before the assassination, Ukraine indicted Kirillov, 54, in absentia, saying he was “responsible for the massive use of banned chemical weapons.” Russia denies these allegations.

The public relations center of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that the 29-year-old was “suspected of committing a terrorist act.”

A press release specifies that during “the interrogation, he explained that he had been recruited by the Ukrainian special services”.

In a video released by the FSB, the alleged suspect – a dark-haired man in handcuffs whose coat appears to have been torn – speaks directly to the camera.

He appears to say he was offered a $100,000 reward and permission to move to the European Union in exchange for killing Kirillov.

The FSB adds that, on Ukraine’s instructions, he arrived in Moscow and received a homemade explosive device.

He placed the explosive device on an electric scooter, which he parked at the entrance to the residential building where Kirillov lived, according to the FSB.

He then rented a car to monitor Kirillov’s residence and installed a dashboard camera that transmitted a live video feed to his superiors in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the statement added.

When they saw Kirillov coming out of the house, the suspect was ordered to press the button and detonate the bomb, according to the FSB.

Kirillov is considered the highest-ranking military figure assassinated in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine almost three years ago.

In addition to his indictment by Ukraine, this 54-year-old man had already been sanctioned by the United Kingdom for the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed that Russia used chemical weapons more than 4,800 times under the general’s leadership.

Moscow denies the allegations and says it destroyed the last vestiges of its vast stockpile of chemical weapons in 2017.

Photos taken on Tuesday outside the building in Kirillov, southeast of Moscow, show the entrance badly damaged, with burn marks on the walls and a number of windows blown out. Two body bags were also visible in the street.

Also on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia would raise the issue of Kirillov’s assassination at Friday’s United Nations Security Council meeting.

Russian authorities have promised to find and punish those involved in the assassination.