EPARussia’s security service says a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been arrested for the murder of general Igor Kirillov and his aide in Moscow.
Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces, was outside the residence on Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a scooter detonated.
Russia’s security service said the unnamed suspect was employed by Ukrainian intelligence, according to state media.
The security service of Ukraine initially claimed responsibility for the killing, a source told the BBC on tuesday.
A Ukrainian source said Kirillov – a former Russian chemical weapons chief – was a “legitimate target” and suspected of war crimes.
On Monday, the day before the murder, Ukraine indicted Kirillov, 54, in absentia, saying he was “guilty of using banned chemical weapons”. Russia denies these allegations.
The public relations agency of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that the arrested, 29, “is suspected of committing a terrorist act”.
The statement said that during “interrogation he explained that he was recruited by the Ukrainian special services”.
EPAIn a video published by the FSB, the suspect is said to have been offered a $100,000 reward and permission to immigrate to the European Union to kill Kirillov.
The FSB added that at the behest of Ukraine, he arrived in Moscow and found a homemade explosive device.
He put the explosive on an electric scooter and parked it at the door of the house where Kirillov lives, the FSB said.
He then hired a surveillance vehicle at Kirillov’s residence and installed a dashboard camera that broadcast live video to the authorities of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the statement said.
When they saw Kirillov leaving the house, the suspect was told to press a button and detonate the bomb, the FSB said.
Kirillov is thought to be the highest-ranking soldier killed inside Russia since the country invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago.
Apart from being charged by Ukraine, the 54-year-old had previously been charged sanctioned by the UK for alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s security service SBU says Russia used chemical weapons more than 4,800 times under the general’s leadership.
Moscow denies this, too it says it destroyed the last of its chemical weapons in 2017.
Pictures from the scene outside Kirillov’s apartment in southeast Moscow on Tuesday showed a heavily damaged gate, with scarred walls and many blown out windows. Two body bags were also seen on the street.
Also on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia would raise Kirillov’s killing at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday.
Russian officials have vowed to find and punish those responsible for the killings.
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