A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the killing of a senior Russian general in Moscow.
Though the person was not identified by name, the suspect is a male citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan who was born in 1995, according to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB).
He is accused of detonating an explosive device outside a residential building in Moscow on Tuesday, killing Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov and his assistant, Maj. Ilya Polikarpov. He faces life in prison for the attack.
The suspect said he was recruited by the Ukrainian Security Services, or SBU, to conduct the attack, which the agency claimed responsibility for on Tuesday.
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“On their instructions, he arrived in Moscow, received a high-power homemade explosive device and placed it on an electric scooter, which he parked near the entrance to the house of I.A. Kirillov,” according to the FSB statement, which was translated to English.
The suspect then monitored Kirillov’s residence by using a Wi-Fi video camera installed in a rented car that was broadcasting footage to organizers in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr, the statement said.
The device was remotely activated once the video showed Kirillov and Polikarpov leaving the building.
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Kirillov, who commanded Russia’s chemical, biological and radiation defense forces, was charged by Ukrainian Security Services, or SBU, on Monday with war crimes. An SBU official who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said Kirillov was a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target.”
“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. “Investigative and search activities are being carried out to establish all the circumstances around this crime.”
Petrenko also said Russia is treating the explosion as a terrorist attack.
Russia says the Ukrainian special services promise Uzbekistan citizens $100,000 and a trip to live in a European country for the killing of a Russian servicemember.
“The Ukrainian special services officers involved in organizing the terrorist attack will be found and will receive the punishment they deserve,” the FSB said in its statement.
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