MOSCOW – A Russian intelligence agency said Wednesday that it has detained a suspect in the killing of a senior general in Moscow.
The suspect was described as an Uzbek citizen recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services.
The suspect involved in the incident was not identified by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) but was reported to have been born in 1995. The FSB revealed that the suspect himself confessed to being recruited by Ukrainian special services.
On Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov tragically lost his life due to a bomb concealed in a scooter outside his Moscow apartment building. This followed a recent move by Ukraine’s security service to press criminal charges against him, with a Ukrainian official claiming responsibility for the attack.
Kirillov was the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces. His assistant also died in the attack.
At 54 years old, Kirillov had been sanctioned by various countries, including the U.K. and Canada, for his involvement in Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine. Just a day before the fatal attack, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) initiated a criminal probe against him, alleging his direct role in the deployment of prohibited chemical weaponry.
Russia has denied using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and, in turn, has accused Kyiv of using toxic agents in combat.
Kirillov, who took his current job in 2017, was one of the most high-profile figures to level those accusations. He held numerous briefings to accuse the Ukrainian military of using toxic agents and planning to launch attacks with radioactive substances — claims that Ukraine and its Western allies rejected as propaganda.
The bomb used in Tuesday’s attack was triggered remotely, according to Russian news reports. Images from the scene showed shattered windows and scorched brickwork.
Russia’s top state investigative agency said it’s looking into Kirillov’s death as a case of terrorism, and officials in Moscow vowed to punish Ukraine.
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