The Military Point 507 | Stanislav Rzhitsky was killed by four shots while jogging yesterday. He was on the Kiev list of war criminals: accused of the Vinnytsia massacre and killed on the day of the anniversary
The shadow of Ukrainian revenge hangs over the death of Stanislav Rzhitsky. The 42-year-old former commander of a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine, Rzhitsky, was killed yesterday in an ambush in Krasnodar, southern Russia.
The reconstruction of the attack suggests a well-studied mission. In the mornings, the officer – who currently holds the position of deputy local chief of the mobilization department – goes for a jog. And then the ambush is triggered. The killer probably tracked his movements, checked his habits and schedules: on Strava, an American app popular with joggers, there was even a map with Rzhitsky’s usual routes. He shot him at least four times in the chest and back and then fled, apparently unmolested. He probably knew where to strike: an ambush in an area with no security cameras. A digital watch and headphones were left on the ground, a sign that the robbery was not involved. Little more came out of the testimonies, while the Russian authorities immediately launched a full investigation.
The crime can be anything but a trace of targeted action, which is backed up by the officer’s profile. For a long time he was at the helm of the conventional submarine Krasnodar, a unit that Moscow used in operations against Ukraine. From this hull, as well as from other Navy ships, numerous Kalibr cruise missiles were fired at enemy cities: many civilian casualties, considerable damage to infrastructure. A campaign of terror and destruction that never stopped.
Rzhitsky was no stranger to Kiev, his name being on a list of Russian military officials accused of war crimes. In particular – again according to unofficial sources – he is said to have been involved in the rocket attack on Vinnytsia in July 2022, which claimed 23 lives, including three children. Because of this, it would have become a legitimate target for Ukrainians determined to respond to the aggression by prosecuting those responsible for the atrocities. The use of international arrest requests or covert activities is becoming a long-term strategy of the Kiev secret service.
There is no evidence that the sub’s elimination can be attributed with certainty to Kyrylo Budanov’s men or internal partisans, but it is a scenario worth considering. Occurred on the anniversary of the Vinnysya massacre and recalls what has happened to the outstanding murders within the borders of Russia in recent months: the bomb under Dugin’s daughter’s car, the explosive statue designed to hit extremist blogger Vladen Tatarsky, and then spectacular gestures like … The truck bomb on the Kerch Bridge, a sabotage that was only officially claimed a few days ago.
As it has after each of these episodes, Kiev denies blaming the Russians for Rzhitsky’s death. “We know that the roots of what happened yesterday must be sought in Russia itself, where protests against the war in Ukraine are growing,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, wrote on Telegram, but the death of the U -Bootfahrers appears to be a continuation of what was carried out in the territories occupied by the invaders, with the systematic hunt for collaborators, Moscow-imposed leaders and officials. All part of a secret war – also waged by the Russians – that was at the heart of the great clash.
Jul 11, 2023 (Modified Jul 11, 2023 | 1:46 p.m.)
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