Kremlin accuses Ukraine of ‘act of terrorism’ after assassination of Russian general

Russia announced on Wednesday the arrest of an Uzbek national, suspected of being involved in the assassination of Russian general Igor Kirillov, who died the day before in Moscow in a bomb attack claimed by Ukraine, which accuses the officer of “war crimes”. The commander of the Russian radiological, chemical and biological defense forces, Igor Kirillov, 54, was killed Tuesday morning in the explosion of a booby-trapped electric scooter, while leaving his building on Ryazanski Avenue, in southeast of Moscow.

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“A national of Uzbekistan, born in 1995, was arrested on suspicion of having committed the attack which cost the lives” of the general and his collaborator Ilia Polikarpov, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on Wednesday. which does not identify the suspect. The Kremlin for its part accused Ukraine on Wednesday of an “act of terrorism”, a first reaction which comes more than 24 hours after the assassination.

“War crimes”

“This demonstrates once again that the kyiv regime does not shy away from terrorist methods,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the issue. For kyiv, killing this high-ranking officer directly involved in the Russian assault on Ukraine for almost three years is legitimate. The Ukrainian security services (SBU), which claimed responsibility for the assassination, accused the general on Monday of “war crimes” for the use of chemical agents on the Ukrainian battlefield.

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General Kirillov, sanctioned in October by London for the alleged deployment of chemical weapons in Ukraine, is the most senior Russian military official known to have been killed since the start of the Russian offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022.

The arrest of a first suspect in his assassination was carried out following a joint operation by the Russian Security Service (FSB), the Ministry of the Interior and the Investigative Committee, the latter said.

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During interrogation, the suspect claimed to have been “recruited by the Ukrainian special services”, according to the same source. At their request, he arrived in Moscow and was given an explosive device which he placed on an electric scooter parked near the building where General Kirillov resided, the statement said. The suspect also rented a car which was also parked near the building and in which a surveillance camera had been installed, investigators explain.

100.000 dollars

The video filmed by this camera was transmitted “in real time to the organizers of the attack, towards the city of Dnipro”, in Ukraine, according to the same source. As soon as the general and his assistant left the building, the explosive device was activated remotely by the suspect, the statement said.

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For this attack, the perpetrator was promised “remuneration of 100,000 US dollars” and the possibility of moving to “one of the European countries”, he assures. The suspect risks “sentences of up to life imprisonment” for “assassination”, “attack” and “arms trafficking”, the FSB said in a press release.

“The agents of the Ukrainian special services, involved in the organization of the attack, will be found and duly punished,” he assured. Russian diplomacy has accused the West of being “accomplices” of Ukraine, while Kirillov distinguished himself by denouncing alleged American bacteriological programs in Ukraine, accusations for which no credible proof or clue has been provided.

Ukraine has claimed or been attributed to several assassinations in Russia and the occupied territories since 2022, which have notably targeted military or political leaders and ideological supporters of the Russian assault.