Suspect in Killing of Top Russian General Charged with Terrorism

A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova
A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova
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Suspect in Killing of Top Russian General Charged with Terrorism

A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova
A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova

The suspect in the killing of top Russian general Igor Kirillov has been charged with an act of terrorism resulting in the death of a person, a notice on the website of the Moscow court said on Thursday.

Russia said on Wednesday it had detained an Uzbek man who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb in Moscow which killed Kirillov, who was the chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, on the instructions of Ukraine's SBU security service.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said in a statement on Wednesday that the unnamed suspect identifed as Akhmad Kurbanov had told them he had come to Moscow to carry out an assignment for Ukraine's intelligence services.
In a video published by the Baza news outlet, which is known to have sources in Russian law-enforcement circles, the suspect is seen sitting in a van describing his actions.

He describes placing the device on the electric scooter and parking it outside the apartment block where Kirillov lived.
Investigators cited him as saying he set up a surveillance camera in a hire car which, they said, was watched in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro by people who organized the killing.
The suspect, who is thought to be 29, is shown saying he remotely detonated the device when Kirillov left the building. He says Ukraine had offered him $100,000 and residency in a European country.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said Moscow would raise the assassination at the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 20.



Putin Says Russia is Getting Closer to Achieving Primary Goals in Ukraine

People watch the live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised year-end press conference and phone-in, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict at a cultural center in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
People watch the live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised year-end press conference and phone-in, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict at a cultural center in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
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Putin Says Russia is Getting Closer to Achieving Primary Goals in Ukraine

People watch the live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised year-end press conference and phone-in, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict at a cultural center in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
People watch the live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised year-end press conference and phone-in, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict at a cultural center in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russian forces were moving towards achieving their primary goals on the battlefield in Ukraine and were taking control of significant territory every day.
Fielding questions at his annual phone-in with Russians, Putin said Russian forces were advancing along the entire battle front, Reuters reported.
"I must say that the situation is changing dramatically... There is movement along the entire front line. Every day," he said.
Military analysts say Russia is advancing in eastern Ukraine at the fastest pace since 2022.
"Our fighters are reclaiming territory by the square kilometer every day," Putin said.
"The fighting is difficult, so it is difficult and pointless to guess what lies ahead... (but) we are moving, as you said, towards solving our primary tasks, which we outlined at the beginning of the special military operation."
Discussing the continued presence of Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, Putin said they would definitely be forced out, but declined to say exactly when that would happen.