Uzbek national accused of assassinating Russian general Kirillov detained (video)

Yesterday, a 29-year-old Uzbek man was detained on suspicion of involvement in the deaths of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, and his assistant, Ilya Polikarpov. Both were killed in an explosion in Moscow on December 17. The Investigative Committee of Russia made a statement regarding the incident.

According to the statement, the Uzbek citizen was detained by the committee in cooperation with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is reported that the suspect had allegedly traveled to Moscow on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services. He is accused of planting a homemade explosive device on an electric scooter parked at the entrance of the residential building where General Kirillov lived.

“To monitor the residence of the serviceman, he rented a car and installed a video surveillance camera there. The footage from this camera was transmitted online to the Ukrainian security service in the city of Dnepr. After receiving a video signal of the soldier leaving the gate, the explosive device was remotely activated,” the report stated.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee's version, the Uzbek citizen was promised a cash reward of $100,000 and guaranteed relocation to a European country in return for committing the crime.

Earlier, it was reported that Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his driver were killed in an explosion in Moscow. The explosive device, with a capacity of 200 grams of TNT, caused damage to the entrance door, shattered the windows of the house, and damaged the general's official vehicle.

Later, a source in the Ukrainian Security Service told Reuters that Kyiv was directly involved in the killing of Kirillov and his assistant. The source stated that Ukraine considered Kirillov a war criminal and “a completely legitimate target.” However, no evidence was provided to support these claims.

Lieutenant General Kirillov was scheduled to attend a Defense Ministry briefing on December 17. He was widely known for his appearances at military briefings since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine. In 2022, he accused the United States of creating bio-laboratories in Ukraine to study viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. In 2023, he claimed that the United States planned to use drones to release virus-carrying mosquitoes to poison enemy soldiers. He also suggested that the spread of bird flu in Russia was linked to the migration of infected birds from Ukraine.