Russia detains Uzbek for killing general

The Russian security service said a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan was detained for the murder of senior general Igor Kirilov and his aide in Moscow.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirilov, head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces, was outside an apartment block early Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.

The Russian security service said the unnamed suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence, according to state media agencies.

The Security Service of Ukraine has already claimed responsibility for the murder. a source told the BBC on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian source said Kirilov – who was Russia’s chemical weapons chief – was a “legitimate target” and alleged he had committed war crimes.

On Monday, the day before the killing, Ukraine charged Kirilov, 54, in absentia, saying he was “responsible for the massive use of banned chemical weapons”. Russia denies the allegations.

The Public Relations 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 the interrogation he “explained that he had been recruited by the Ukrainian special services”.

In a video released by the FSB, the alleged suspect appears to say he was offered a $100,000 reward and permission to move to the European Union in exchange for killing Kirilov.

The FSB added that at the direction of Ukraine he arrived in Moscow and received an improvised explosive device.

He placed the explosive device on an electric scooter that he parked at the entrance to the apartment building where Kirilov lived, the FSB reported.

He then rented a car to monitor Kirillov’s residence and installed a dashboard camera that transmitted live video to officials in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the statement added.

When Kirilov was seen leaving the house, the suspect was told to push the button and detonate the bomb, the FSB said.

Kirillov is believed to be the most senior military official killed in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago.

In addition to being accused by Ukraine, the 54-year-old has been before sanctioned by the United Kingdom for its alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, claims Russia used chemical weapons more than 4,800 times under the general’s leadership.

Moscow denies this and says it destroyed the last remnant of its vast stockpile of chemical weapons in 2017.

Pictures from the scene outside Kirilov’s apartment block in southeast Moscow on Tuesday showed the heavily damaged entrance, with burn marks on the walls and several broken windows. Two sacks of corpses could also be seen on the street.

Also on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia would raise the issue of Kirilov’s killing at the UN Security Council meeting on Friday.

Russian authorities promised to find and punish those involved in the murder.