The suspect responsible for the explosion that killed the Russian general was a 29-year-old Uzbek citizen. According to TASS News Agency, citing a notice from the FSB press office, this suspect was recruited by Ukraine’s special services and promised a reward of 100,000 USD and a trip to one of the European Union countries.
“The FSB conducted joint investigative and operational activities with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian Investigative Committee. Accordingly, security forces identified and arrested an Uzbek citizen, born in 1995, who had detonated an improvised explosive device near a residential building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, killing Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Commander of Russia’s Biological, Chemical and Radiological Protection Forces, born in 1970, and assistant His son, Major Polikarpov, was born in 1983,” the FSB press office announced.
Russia brought the assassination of a general right in the middle of Moscow to the Security Council meeting
Previously, TASS quoted a notice from the Russian Investigative Committee saying that General Kirillov and his assistant were killed in an explosion in Moscow on the morning of December 17 (Moscow time). Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko announced that the explosion was caused by an explosive device planted in an electric scooter.
The suspect has been transferred to the Russian Investigative Committee to document his criminal actions within the framework of the criminal case. The suspect “could face life imprisonment for this crime”, according to the FSB. “Employees of the Ukrainian intelligence services involved in organizing the terrorist attack will also be located and punished,” the FSB press office alleged.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Commander of Russia’s Biological, Chemical and Radiation Protection Forces at a press conference in Moscow on November 5
There is currently no information on the reaction of Ukraine and Uzbekistan to the FSB’s new announcement.
On December 17, AFP quoted a source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirming that the Russian general’s death in the explosion in Moscow was part of a “special operation” of the SBU.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also accused Ukraine’s Western allies of being “accomplices” in the explosion that killed General Kirillov.
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on December 17 that the US had “no prior knowledge and was not involved” in the explosion that killed General Kirillov, according to AFP.
However, Mr. Miller pointed to previous US assessments that Mr. Kirillov was involved in the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers.
