Russia detains Uzbekistan man for killing of senior general

Russia’s Federal Security Service said in a Wednesday statement that it had detained a male citizen of Uzbekistan on suspicion of killing of Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov. An exploding scooter placed outside a residential building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow killed the general and his aide on Tuesday, the Russian Investigative Committee said. Kirillov was the head of the Russian military’s Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops.

Are there any more details about the alleged killer? The Federal Security Service did not provide the man’s name but did say that he was 29 years old. The Uzbekistan citizen told Russian officials that Ukrainian officials hired him to kill Kirillov for about $100,000, Russia’s security service said. Russian authorities promised that they would hunt down the Ukrainian officials behind the attack and bring them to justice. The Uzbekistani faces life imprisonment.

Did Russia provide any more details about the killing itself? After allegedly agreeing to kill Kirillov, the Uzbekistani citizen traveled to Moscow, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service. There, he received a package from Ukrainian officials that contained a high-powered, homemade explosive, the security service said. The suspect is accused of then planting the explosive in a scooter parked near the entrance of the Ryazansky Avenue residential building where Kirillov lived.

The Uzbekistani suspect then allegedly rented a car-share vehicle and parked it across the street. Russian authorities say he then installed a Wi-Fi camera in the car so that Ukrainian officials—who the Russian claim located in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro at the time—could remotely observe the entrance to the residential building. When Ukrainian officials saw on the video that Kirillov was leaving the apartment, they triggered the explosive in the scooter and eliminated him and his aide, according to Russian authorities.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift from yesterday about Russian authorities blaming Ukraine for the killing, and Ukraine’s reported acceptance of responsibility.