Moscow, Russia

Russian military official, Stanislav Rzhitsky, the commander of a submarine in the Black Sea, who had been placed on a blacklist of alleged war criminals by a Ukrainian website, was shot dead, early Monday (July 10) by an unknown assassin while he was on his morning run, reported Russian news agency TASS, citing local officials. 

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What do we know about the Russian official’s death?

The 42-year-old military official was shot in the southern city of Krasnodar, said Russia’s top investigative body. A criminal case has been launched after the alleged murder, reported TASS. 

According to Russian media reports, Rzhitsky was the deputy head of military mobilisation in the city and also commanded the “Krasnodar” submarine (named after the city) in the Black Sea. Rzhitsky was reportedly shot four times in the back and chest and died on the spot.

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The commander of a diesel-electric submarine, a part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was also allegedly responsible for launching Kalibr cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets, according to media reports from Ukraine. 

 Rzhitsky, was also said to have been involved in a submarine-launched missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia in July, last year, which killed 23 civilians, including a four-year-old girl. 

Ukrainian involvement?

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A report by Reuters said that Rzhitsky’s details, including his address were present on the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), which is said to be an unofficial database of perceived enemies of Kyiv. On Tuesday, the word “Liquidated,” in red, was superimposed on his photograph on the site.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian interior ministry adviser, Anton Gerashchenko, took to Twitter and wrote about how the Russian police and the country’s media are blaming the “carefully planned” alleged murder on the “order from Ukraine”. 

He added, “So far, Russian police cannot find a single surveillance camera that would show the crime being committed. The search continues.” However, the Ukrainian official did not covertly indicate if the allegations are justified or not. 

Did Putin fire the top Russian general?

Top Russian general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov was shown in a video released by the defence ministry, on Monday, in his first public appearance since the aborted Wagner mutiny last month. 

He was also described as the general staff of the Russian armed forces and commander of Moscow’s forces in Ukraine, positions he held prior to the Wagner mutiny.

The recent footage and first public appearances indicate that Russian President Vladimir Putin has retained his two most powerful military men Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov. 

Russian military bloggers, for weeks, have claimed that the top Russian general had been dismissed and replaced by Putin after Wagner’s June 24 mutiny. However, both the first recent public appearances suggest that the Russian president ignored Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s demand for their dismissal.

On the other hand, Russian military bloggers, as per the Moscow Times claim that Gerasimov has been replaced with Colonel General Mikhail Teplinskiy who took over as commander of the Airborne Forces in June, last year and in April became deputy commander of the grouping in Ukraine.

The pro-Kremlin military blogger Vladimir Romanov reportedly also indicated that Teplinsky is the one running operations on the Russian side.

(With inputs from agencies)

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