A senior official of a Russian company that develops cruise missiles used by Russia in its war with Ukraine was shot and killed near Moscow, Ukrainian media reported Thursday.
Mikhail Shatsky, deputy chief designer at the Mars Design Bureau - which develops and manufactures guidance systems for the Russian military and aerospace industries - was killed, according to those reports, two days ago near the city of Kotelniki in the Moscow region.
Police did not comment on the news, but reports on social media and local media, which have not been independently verified, identified Shacki as the victim, Radio Free Europe (RSE) Ukrainian service reported.
Media in Ukraine reported that Shatsky was involved in the modernization of the H-59 and H-69 missiles, as well as helping to develop unmanned aerial vehicles. All these weapons are used by Russia for attacks in Ukraine.
The allegations of Shatsky's killing came three days after a car bomb killed Sergei Yevsyukov, who ran the Russian-occupied Olenivka prison in Donetsk Oblast at the time more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed in a controversial explosion in July 2022.
No one has accepted responsibility for those incidents. Members of the Russian military and officials appointed by Moscow have been repeatedly targeted in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. In many cases, the attacks were fatal.
Ukrainian officials usually say that "guerrilla forces" are behind such attacks. Russia accuses Ukrainian secret services of organizing and carrying out the attacks.
Well-known Russian journalist and critic of the Kremlin, Alexander Nevzorov, was the first to announce Šacki's death on Telegram, along with photos of what he said was Šacki's body.
Independent investigative media IStories geolocated the images to a location near Šacki's home, but these claims have not been verified.
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