Russia’s security service says a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been arrested over the murder of Senior General Igor Kirillov and his aide in Moscow.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defense Forces (NBC), was outside a residential block early Tuesday when an explosive hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.
According to the Russian security service, the unnamed suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence.
The Ukrainian security service had already claimed to be behind the murder, a source told the BBC on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian source said Kirillov – Russia’s chemical weapons chief – was “a legitimate target” and claimed he had committed war crimes.
On Monday, the day before the killing, Ukraine indicted 54-year-old Kirillov in absentia, saying he was “responsible for the massive use of banned chemical weapons.” Russia denies the accusations.
The PR center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that the detained 29-year-old was “suspected of committing a terrorist act”.
A statement said that during interrogation he explained that he had been recruited by the Ukrainian special services.
Kirillov was killed outside an apartment building on Tuesday [EPA]
The FSB said the suspect was offered a $100,000 reward and permission to move to the European Union in exchange for Kirillov’s murder.
It added that he arrived in Moscow on instructions from Ukraine and received a homemade explosive device.
He placed the explosive on an electric scooter, which he parked at the entrance of the residential building where Kirillov lived, the FSB said.
He then rented a car to monitor Kirillov’s home and also installed a camera that live-streamed a video feed from the location to his handlers in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
When they saw Kirillov come out of the house, the suspect detonated the bomb, the statement said.
[BBC]
Kirillov is believed to be the highest-ranking military figure to be assassinated in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine almost three years ago.
The 54-year-old was not only charged by Ukraine, but also previously sanctioned by Britain over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s SBU security service has claimed that Russia under the general’s leadership has used chemical weapons more than 4,800 times.
Moscow denies this and says it destroyed the last remnants of its vast stockpile of chemical weapons in 2017.
Photos from the scene outside Kirillov’s apartment building in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday showed the badly damaged entrance, with scorch marks on the walls and several blown out windows. Two body bags were also visible on the street.
Also on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Russia would raise Kirillov’s murder at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday.
Russian officials have vowed to find and punish those involved in the killing.
