The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Moscow on December 18 commented on the situation following the detention of a 29-year-old Uzbek national over the scooter-bomb assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces, and his assistant. 

The diplomatic mission confirmed it was in contact with Russian law enforcement to verify details about the detainee, who was not named.

“The [embassy] is in contact with the law enforcement agencies of the host country and is clarifying information about the person detained on suspicion of committing this act,” the statement read.

Russian authorities detained the suspect in the village of Chernoye, in the Balashikha district of Moscow Oblast.

An explosive device attached to a Chinese electric scooter was remotely detonated as Kirillov and assistant Ilya Polikarpov exited the general’s apartment block in the Russian capital. Both men were killed instantly. 

Ukraine’s security service SBU claimed responsibility for the operation, desribing it as a justified strike against a “war criminal.”

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the Uzbek suspect admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian operatives, who allegedly promised him $100,000 and relocation to a European Union country in exchange for carrying out the attack.

Surveillance footage was said to have captured the suspect’s movements, including his alleged planting of the explosive-laden scooter and his tracking of Kirillov’s location using a car rented via a ride-sharing service. 

The suspect allegedly live-streamed the general’s movements to Ukrainian handlers in Dnipro, Ukraine, who remotely detonated the bomb upon receiving video confirmation of Kirillov’s presence.

Central Asian migrants in Russia have experienced a wave of xenophobia and strict tightening of migration rules since the March terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall convert venue in outer Moscow that took the lives of at least 140 people. Three Tajik work migrants, accused of being the Islamist gunmen who carried out the atrocity, remain in pre-trial detention.

The fact that the killing of Kirillov—a 54-year-old general, accused of authorising chemical weapon attacks on Ukrainian troops, who is thought to be the most senior military figure assassinated inside Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022—has been blamed on an Uzbek suspect is a setback for Central Asian diplomats working to ease the post-Crocus backlash against the millions of their countries’ nationals present in Russia.

The speed of the arrest of the unnamed suspect over the assassination of the general will inevitably prompt some scepticism. Analysts will question whether the Uzbek detainee is a scapegoat.

"The special services have a clear interest in showing their superiors the result of their work, that a successful investigation has taken place, and so on. It's not the first time we've seen this. It's hard to judge right now how accurate this [arrest] is," political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin told Current Time.