Mikhail Shatsky, a top missile scientist working for the Russian government, has been killed eight miles southeast of the Kremlin amid reports that Ukrainian intelligence is responsible
One of Vladimir Putin’s leading missile scientists has been “eliminated” in a Moscow park by Ukrainian intelligence, according to reports.
Mikhail Shatsky was gunned down by an unknown assassin in Kuzminsky forest park, at Kotelniki, eight miles southeast of the Kremlin. Reports say the scientist, an associate professor, was working actively on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile.
Sources in Russia have claimed that he was assassinated by Ukrainian military intelligence. Exiled Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov said: “Today, the GUR forces in Moscow eliminated a particularly malicious criminal – Deputy General Designer, Head of the Software Department of the Mars Design Bureau, Mikhail Shatsky.He was involved in upgrading the Kh-59 cruise missiles to the Kh-69 level, introducing new UAVs, and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainians.”
Mr Nevzorov also published macabre pictures of a man’s body lying in the snow. The state-run Russian APN news agency reported: “As a result of the shooting in Kotelniki on December 11, Mikhail Shatsky, the head of the software department of the Mars Design Bureau, was killed. He was engaged in the modernisation of the X-59 cruise missiles and developed the latest types of UAVs [military drones]. Ukrainian nationalists claimed responsibility for the murder.” No official statement has been released by Russian authorities.
Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne said it had received confirmation from Ukrainian “special services” that Shatsky had been “eliminated”. Footage showed Russian emergency services arriving at the snow-covered scene. Exiled journalist Mr Nevzorov also suggested Ukraine had been responsible, commenting that the head of the GUR Ukrainian general Kyrylo Budanov has “long arms”. Both the Kh-59 and Kh-69 air-launched cruise missiles have been widely used by Putin’s forces against Ukraine in the war.
It comes only days after Vladimir Putin boasted that his new ballistic Oreshnik missile would make nuclear weapons redundant. The Russian leader bragged about the weapon’s speed, which is estimated to be about 10 times the speed of sound – fast enough to bypass any missile defence system. According to a readout from the Kremlin, Putin said: “What we need now is not to improve the nuclear doctrine, but the ‘Oreshnik,’ because enough of these modern weapons systems puts us on the verge of virtually eliminating the need to employ nuclear weapons.”