Russian authorities have apprehended a suspect in connection with the Moscow assassination.
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) identified the suspect as a 1995-born male citizen of Uzbekistan, though his name remains undisclosed.
He is accused of using an explosive device to kill Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov and his aide, Maj. Ilya Polikarpov, near their residence on Tuesday. This act carries a potential life sentence.
The suspect confessed to being recruited by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) to carry out the attack, a claim the SBU has acknowledged.
According to the FSB, acting on SBU instructions, he traveled to Moscow, obtained a powerful homemade explosive device, and placed it on an electric scooter near Kirillov’s home.
The FSB statement details the suspect’s use of a Wi-Fi camera in a rented vehicle to monitor Kirillov’s residence and relay footage to SBU handlers.
The device detonated remotely upon confirmation from the video feed that Kirillov and Polikarpov were leaving the building.
Kirillov, who headed Russia’s chemical, biological, and radiation defense forces, had been accused of war crimes by the SBU on Monday. An anonymous SBU official justified the killing to the Associated Press, referring to Kirillov as a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target.”
Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko stated that investigators, forensic experts, and operational teams are working on the case and conducting searches to uncover all the details of the crime. The explosion is being treated as a terrorist act.
Russia alleges that the Ukrainian special services offered Uzbek citizens $100,000 and relocation to a European country in exchange for the assassination of a Russian serviceman.
The FSB declared that those involved in organizing this terrorist attack will be found and brought to justice.