The duo allegedly provided logistical support for the killing of Igor Kirillov, the chief of chemical forces, investigators say
Police have arrested two more suspects who allegedly played a role in the assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces, the country’s Investigative Committee has announced.
Kirillov and his aide, Major Ilya Polikarpov, were killed in mid-December by an improvised explosive device planted outside a Moscow apartment building. The bomb was attached to an electric scooter near the building’s entrance and detonated remotely, officials said. Russian authorities have labeled the assassination a “terrorist attack” orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence. Kiev has denied the accusation.
Shortly after the blast, a 29-year-old Uzbek national, Akhmad Kurbanov, was detained in Moscow Region for his alleged role as a triggerman recruited by Ukraine.
In a statement on Thursday, the Russian Investigative Committee said that two other suspects, identified as Batukhan Tochiyev and Ramazan Padiyev, had been detained, without elaborating on where the arrests had taken place.
The Committee stated that Tochiyev and Padiyev were tasked with providing logistical support to Kurbanov, adding that the duo had rented a room for him at a hostel in Moscow Region which was meant to serve as a safe haven after the assassination.
Officials also said that while Tochiyev received funds to cover the rental costs from his recruiters, Padiyev filmed the premises and handed over the keys to Kurbanov in a Moscow shopping mall. “The coordinator” of the assassination also handed over the video filmed by Padiyev to Kurbanov to guide him to the hideout’s location, the statement read.
Following the assassination of the general, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, condemned the act as evidence of Ukraine’s “agony.”
“The Kiev regime… is making every effort to justify its miserable existence and the catastrophic situation on the front line to its Western masters,” he noted.
At the same time, Keith Kellogg, special envoy for Ukraine and Russia of US President-elect Donald Trump, also criticized the assassination, remarking: “There are rules of warfare, and there are certain things you just don’t do.”
