Uzbek authorities are keeping a close eye on the family of the suspect in the high-profile assassination of a Russian general in Moscow last week, neighbors and activists say.
Uzbek national Ahmadjon Qurbonov, 29, has been charged by a Moscow court with terrorism and other offenses in the December 17 killing of Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces.
Qurbonov, who grew up in the Uchteppa district of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, has been accused of remotely detonating a homemade bomb hidden on a scooter parked outside a residential building. The blast killed Kirillov and his assistant.
Qurbonov's neighbors in Tashkent told RFE/RL that his family are refraining from speaking to media and are being monitored by Uzbek authorities since the news of Qurbonov’s arrest broke.
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Uzbek law-enforcement agencies have since been in regular contact with the family, according to Abdurahmon Tashanov, head of the Ezgulik human rights group in Uzbekistan.
Tashanov told RFE/RL that he had spoken with the family and quoted them as saying the relatives first found about Qurbonov's alleged involvement in the attack from the anti-terrorism unit of the Uchteppa police department.
They learned other details from media reports, Tashanov added.
Uzbek authorities did not respond to RFE/RL's request for comment.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the neighbors said Qurbonov's mother had last spoken with her son two days before the attack, when he called from Russia and had assured her he was healthy and had found good work as a cook.
According to the neighbors, Qurbonov left Tashkent in 2021, saying he was going to Turkey as a migrant worker. They claimed the family didn't know when Qurbonov moved from Turkey to Russia.
Both Russia and Turkey host thousands of migrant workers from Uzbekistan.
SEE ALSO: Central Asian Migrants Brace For Backlash After Russian General's KillingThe residents in Uchteppa's Pakhtakor neighborhood described the Qurbonovs as a regular, middle-class family with a comfortable life.
Qurbonov’s late father, Alijon, made a living as a cook, and one of his siblings works at a bakery, they said.
Tashanov raised concern about a video released by Russian authorities that purportedly shows Qurbonov "confessing" to having committed the deadly attack on Kirillov. It is not known whether the "confession" was obtained under duress.
Tashanov said releasing such footage violates the presumption of innocence in Qurbonov's case.
During a hearing at Moscow's Basman district court on December 19, Qurbonov requested a translator due to his limited knowledge of the Russian language.
Russian investigators claimed Qurbonov was recruited and trained by Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out the attack.
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There has been no official claim of responsibility, but Ukraine's security service SBU has said it was behind the killing.
Kyiv had accused Kirillov of being responsible for Russia's use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops, a claim Moscow denies.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbek counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoev, discussed cooperation in the fight against terrorism in a phone call on December 19.