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Russia's top investigative body said Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, was
gunned down early on Monday in the southern city of Krasnodar.
Rzhitsky's address and personal details appeared on the
Ukrainian website Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), a vast unofficial
database of people considered to be enemies of Ukraine.
On Tuesday the word "Liquidated", in red letters, had been
superimposed on his photograph on the site.
Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian interior ministry adviser,
tweeted that Russian media were pointing the finger at Ukraine
but he did not comment on whether that suspicion was justified.
"So far Russian police cannot find a single surveillance camera
that would show the crime being committed. The search
continues," Gerashchenko said.
Baza, a Russian Telegram channel with links to the security
services, said the killer could have tracked Rzhitsky's
movements in Krasnodar on an app where he posted details of his
regular jogging route and how long he took to complete it.
Russian state media and war bloggers said Rzhitsky was deputy
head of military mobilisation in the city and had previously
commanded the "Krasnodar" submarine in the Black Sea. He was
shot four times in the back and chest and died on the spot, the
reports said.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the Krasnodar is a
diesel-electric submarine built for the Black Sea fleet and
designed "to fight surface ships and submarines, lay mines, and
conduct reconnaissance".
A Telegram channel used by self-styled pro-Ukraine partisans who
have claimed hundreds of sabotage attacks inside Russia said -
without stating evidence - that Rzhitsky was suspected of
involvement in a submarine-launched cruise missile strike in
July 2022 that killed at least 23 people including a 4-year-old
girl in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia.
At least two other pro-war Russian figures in the Myrotvorets
database have been assassinated inside Russia since Moscow
invaded Ukraine nearly 17 months ago. Bomb attacks killed
journalist Darya Dugina last August and war blogger Vladlen
Tatarsky in April.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the attacks, while Kyiv has denied
involvement, suggesting they are the result of Russian
infighting.
(Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Maxim Rodionov,
Editing by William Maclean)
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