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Key suspect in 2024 murder of Russian General Kirillov sentenced to life in prison

The crime was planned by Ukraine
Akhmadjon Kurbonov Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Akhmadjon Kurbonov
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. The Second Western District Military Court has sentenced Akhmadjon Kurbonov (listed as a terrorist and extremist), accused of a terrorist attack that killed head of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection forces Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant Major Ilya Polikarpov, to life imprisonment, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

"The court rules to find Akhmadjon Kurbonov guilty and sentence him to life imprisonment with the first 10 years to be served in prison, and the rest of the term in a special regime colony, with a fine of one million rubles," the judge said.

The crime was planned by Ukraine. In the fall of 2024, the organizers shipped components for an improvised explosive device disguised as household items from Poland to Russia and handed them over to Kurbonov.

Kurbonov assembled the explosive device, equipped it with striking elements and mounted it on an electric scooter, which he placed near the entrance of the house where Kirillov lived. After waiting for Kirillov to go outside, Kurbonov, at the behest of the people who ordered the hit, activated the device remotely.