A senior official from a Russian company that develops cruise missiles used by Moscow in its war with Ukraine has reportedly been shot and killed just outside the capital.
Ukrainian media reported on December 12 that Mikhail Shatsky, a deputy chief designer at the Mars Design Bureau -- which develops and manufactures onboard guidance systems for the Russian military and aerospace industries -- was shot dead two days earlier near the town of Kotelniki in the Moscow region.
Police have not commented on the news, but reports on social media and local news outlets, which have not been independently verified, identified Shatsky as the victim.
News outlets in Ukraine reported Shatsky was involved in the modernization of the Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles, as well as helping in the development of develop unmanned aerial vehicles. All of those weapons have been used by Russia to strike at targets in Ukraine.
The reports came three days after a car bomb killed Sergei Yevsyukov, who led a prison in Russian-occupied Olenivka in the Donetsk region during the time that more than 50 Ukrainian POWs were killed in a controversial explosion in July 2022.
While no one has taken credit for either incident, Russian military personnel and Russian-installed officials have been targeted several times in Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. In many cases, the attacks have been deadly.
Ukrainian officials usually say "guerilla forces" are behind such attacks. Russia accuses Ukraine's secret services of masterminding and implementing the attacks.
Noted Russian journalist and staunch Kremlin critic Aleksandr Nevzorov first reported Shatsky's death on Telegram, publishing photos of what he said was Shatsky's body.
The independent investigative outlet IStories geolocated the images to a site near Shatsky's home, but the claims remain unverified.