Russia's security service said on Wednesday it had detained a suspect killing a senior general in Moscow.
The suspect was described as an Uzbek national recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow on Tuesday, a day after Ukrainian security services brought criminal charges against him. His assistant also died in the attack. A Ukrainian official said the attack was carried out by the service.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) did not identify the suspect, but said he was born in 1995. According to the FSB statement, the suspect himself said he was recruited by Ukrainian special services. The AP cannot confirm the conditions under which the suspect spoke with security services.
The FSB said the suspect was promised a $100,000 reward and permission to move to a European Union country in exchange for killing Kirillov.
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The agency said the suspect traveled to Moscow under instructions from Ukraine, where he picked up a home-made explosive device. He placed the device on an electric scooter and parked it at the entrance to the apartment building where Kirillov lived.
The suspect then rented a car to monitor the scene and set up a camera that live-streamed the scene to his handlers in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. As soon as Kirillov was seen leaving the building, the suspect detonated the bomb. The suspect faces up to life in prison, the FSB said.
The suspect was detained in a village in the Moscow region, Interior Ministry official Irina Volk was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency TASS.
Kirillov, 54, was the head of the military's nuclear, biological and chemical defense forces and was under sanctions from several countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, for his actions in Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened criminal proceedings against him, accusing him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons.
Russia denies using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and has accused Kiev of using toxic agents in the fight.
Kirillov, who took up his current post in 2017, was one of the most prominent figures to level the allegations. He has held numerous briefings to accuse Ukraine's military of using toxic agents and planning attacks using radioactive materials — claims that Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed as propaganda.
An SBU official said on Tuesday that the agency was behind the attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, described Kirillov as "a war criminal and a completely legitimate target."
An SBU official provided video they said was of the bombing. It shows two men exiting the building shortly before an explosion fills the frame.
Russia's top state investigative agency said it was investigating Kirillov's death as a case of terrorism, and Moscow officials vowed to punish Ukraine.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it was "obvious" that Ukraine was behind Kirillov's murder. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kiev "does not shy away from terrorist methods."
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Illia Novikov contributed to this report from Kyiv, Ukraine.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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