Killed Russian general: investigators arrest suspect

After the assassination attempt on high-ranking Russian army representative Igor Kirillov in Moscow, Russian investigators say they have arrested a suspect from Uzbekistan. “An Uzbek citizen, born in 1995, has been arrested,” the investigative committee said on Wednesday. The suspect confessed to having been “recruited by Ukrainian special forces.”

The man is suspected of having carried out the attack in which the commander of the Russian troops to defend against attacks with radioactive, biological and chemical weapons, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov were killed, the investigative agency said.

Kirillov and his assistant were killed on Tuesday when they came out of a residential building early in the morning and an explosive device attached to an electric scooter exploded. The Ukrainian secret service SBU claimed responsibility for the attack.

The investigative committee’s statement stated that the suspect said he had traveled to Moscow for the attack. A camera on the dashboard of a parked rental car outside the building filmed the attack and broadcast it “live for the masterminds in the city of Dnipro.” The man was promised $100,000 (around 95,000 euros) for the crime as well as the opportunity to settle “in a European country”.

General Kirillov is the highest-ranking Russian military official killed on Russian soil since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began in 2022. The explosion occurred in a residential area in southeast Moscow.