Suspect in killing of Russian general 'pleads guilty'

A man suspected of killing a Russian general with a car bomb has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and says he was paid by the Ukrainian Security Service, Russian authorities say.

The Investigative Committee said Ignat Kuzin admitted he was paid to kill Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces.

The committee, in a post on the Telegram platform, later said the court ordered Kuzin remanded in custody.

Russian news agencies said the order remained in effect for 30 days.

Moskalik was killed on Friday by a bomb in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow.

Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the attack, the second in four months targeting a top Russian military officer that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine amid the conflict between the neighbouring countries.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed on December 17, 2024, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office.

Ukraine's security agency acknowledged it was behind the attack.

Kirillov was the chief of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, the special troops tasked with protecting the military from the enemy's use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and ensuring operations in a contaminated environment.

Kirillov's assistant also died in the attack.

Kirillov was under sanctions from several countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, for his actions in the fighting in Ukraine.

with Reuters