A Russian captain responsible for submarine attacks in Ukraine has been shot dead while jogging in Krasnodar, Russia.
A still mysterious murder. Captain Vladislav Rjitskiï, deputy mobilization chief in Krasnodar but also a submarine operator, was shot dead in this large southern city not far from Crimea on Monday.
The information, shared in particular by the Russian agency Tass, was confirmed by the Ukrainian intelligence services, which provided more details.
Betrayed by the Strava app?
“The submarine driver jogged in the park “Thirty Years of Victories”. At around 6 a.m. he was shot seven times with a Makarov pistol. Rzhitsky died on the spot from gunshot wounds,” the press release said.
“Due to the heavy rains, the park was deserted, so there were no witnesses who could provide details or identify the attacker,” Ukrainian intelligence continues.
According to Le Monde, the soldier who was killed was a regular user of the Strava jogging app, which allows people to track their route and share their performance. A tool that was questioned back in 2018 for allowing the identification of American bases in the Middle East.
Author of attacks in Ukraine
According to the Ukrainian press release, 42-year-old Vladislav Rjitskiï fought in the Black Sea at the helm of a Russian “Kilo”-class submarine capable of firing Kalibr cruise missiles.
Attacks by these submarines have been responsible for some of the most devastating attacks on Ukrainian cities, including one on the central city of Vinnytsia almost exactly a year ago that killed dozens of people, including three children, CNN points out.
The American channel later relayed a statement from Ukraine’s Directorate of Strategic Communications (one of the army’s branches), which appears to be aimed at excluding any trace of a remote-controlled assassination attempt through Kiev. In a sarcastic text, the Ukrainians claim that Vladislav Rjitskiï refused to obey certain orders.
“Apparently he was eliminated by his own men because he refused to continue to carry out his command’s combat orders regarding rocket attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities,” they concluded in a statement transmitted by CNN.