The Second Western District Military Court in Moscow has sentenced Uzbek national Ahmadjon Kurbanov to life imprisonment for the murder of Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops.
The crime was committed in December 2024. According to RBC, the defendant fully admitted his guilt in organizing a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of the senior Russian officer and his aide.
In addition to the life sentence, the court imposed a fine of 1 million rubles (approximately $13,000).
Three other defendants were convicted in the same criminal case. All received lengthy prison terms and smaller fines. Robert Safaryan, a native of Azerbaijan, whom investigators believe was involved in delivering the explosive device to the perpetrator, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Batukhan Tochiyev and Ramazan Padiyev, natives of Ingushetia who rented housing to Kurbanov, received 22 and 18 years in prison, respectively.
During the trial, Kurbanov cooperated with investigators and fully admitted his guilt. The other convicted defendants denied involvement in the crime. Tochiyev and Padiyev stated that they had only rented out an apartment, while Safaryan insisted that he was unaware of the contents of the package handed over to Kurbanov.
Charges against Kurbanov were brought in late December 2024. He was accused under three articles of Russia’s Criminal Code: Article 205 (Part 3) — terrorist act; Article 222.1 (4) — illegal trafficking in explosive devices; and Article 223.1 (3) — illegal manufacture of explosive devices.
Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov and his aide, Major Ilya Polikarpov, were killed on the morning of December 17, 2024, when an electric scooter left near the entrance of a residential building exploded. The suspect was detained later that day in Balashikha, in the Moscow region. He was identified as 29-year-old Uzbek citizen Ahmadjon Alijon ughli Kurbonov.
During questioning, the man claimed he had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services. According to him, he was promised $100,000 and assistance with relocating permanently to one of the European Union countries in exchange for carrying out the attack.
