A court in Moscow charged Uzbek citizen Ahmat Qurbanov on December 19 with terrorism and other charges in the high-profile killing of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces.
In addition to terrorism, Qurbanov has been charged with murder and the illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
Qurbanov, born in 1995, has been accused of detonating a self-made explosive device concealed in a scooter parked near a residential building in Moscow on December 17.
The blast killed Kirillov and his assistant. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Qurbanov shortly after the attack in cooperation with the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee. Investigators claimed Qurbanov was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services.
The Russian authorities released a video in which a man speaking poor Russian introduced himself as Ahmad Qurbanov from Uzbekistan and "confessed" to having committed the attack. The circumstances in which the video was recorded remain unknown.
During the court hearing on December 19, Qurbanov requested a translator due to his limited command of the Russian language.
The Uzbek Embassy in Moscow has been actively involved in the case. It commented on Qurbanov's arrest on Telegram, saying that it was in contact with Russian law enforcement agencies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev discussed cooperation in the fight against terrorism in a phone call on December 19, the Kremlin said. Mirziyoev expressed his condolences for the death of Kirillov and his assistant, according to the Kremlin.
The FSB said in a statement on December 18 that the suspect had been recruited and trained by Ukraine's special services and promised money to carry out the attack.
While there has been no formal claim of responsibility for the killing, a source at Ukraine's SBU security service told RFE/RL that the blast was the result of a special operation by the Ukrainian agency.
Ukraine had accused Kirillov of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops. Moscow has denied the accusation.
