Top Putin Missile Developer Shot Dead in Moscow Park

David Gardner
·1-min read
Vladimir Putin, Kh 59 missile
Reuters/Wikipedia

A Russian missile designer was shot dead in a forest park in the Moscow region, according to Ukraine media reports Thursday.

The killing of Mikhail Shatsky was carried out by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, a source in Ukraine’s Defense Forces told the Kyiv Independent.

The report described Shatsky as an expert involved in modernizing cruise missiles that Russia has launched against Ukraine. He was deputy general designer and head of the software department at the Moscow-based Mars Design Bureau and oversaw the modernization of Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles.

Journalist Alexander Nevzorov was first to report the death and he shared photos of a man resembling Shatsky dead in the snow. The shooting is said to have happened in the Kuzminsky forest park near the town of Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast.

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The assassination has not been independently verified.

A brief clip shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, appears to show police officers arriving at the scene.

Commenting on the attack on his Telegram account, Nevzorov suggested the involvement of Ukraine’s secret service head Kyrylo Budanov, writing: “Budanov has long arms.

“It seems that none of those guilty of the genocide of Ukrainians will die a natural death,” he added.

Shatsky was also involved in space research.

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