Russia accused Kiev of “terrorism” after authorities said they had arrested an Uzbek citizen who confessed to planting an explosive device that killed a senior Russian officer at the direction of Ukrainian intelligence.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces (RKhBZ), and his assistant were killed early on Dec. 17 by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside the entrance to a Moscow building.

The speed with which the unnamed suspect was arrested led some analysts to question whether the 29-year-old Central Asian was a scapegoat, while unconfirmed reports circulated that police were stepping up crackdowns on migrants.

“The special services have a clear interest in showing their superiors the result of their work, that a successful investigation has taken place, etc. This is not the first time we have seen this. It is difficult to judge at the moment how accurate this (arrest) is,” political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin told Current Time.

Although no individual or group officially claimed responsibility for the killing, a source in Ukraine’s security service SBU told RFE/RL that the explosion was the result of a special operation by the SBU.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced this in a statement opinion on December 18 that the unnamed suspect had been recruited and trained by Ukraine’s special services and had promised money to carry out the attack.

The FSB said the suspect “arrived in Moscow on instructions from Ukraine, received a homemade high-powered explosive device and placed it on an electric scooter that he parked near the entrance to Kirillov’s house.”

The Kremlin has not commented on the FSB statement that the suspect activated the bomb as Kirillov and his assistant were leaving the building.

The defendant was awarded $100,000 for the murder and a residence permit in a European country, the statement said. The suspect faces a life sentence for his alleged crime.

“The Ukrainian intelligence officers who took part in organizing the terrorist attack will be found and receive the punishment they deserve,” the FSB said.

The FSB did not provide any evidence in its statement and some analysts questioned the speed of the response.

A woman from Kyrgyzstan told RFE/RL in Moscow that she expected a backlash for migrants from Central Asia.

“The situation is difficult,” said the woman. “I think that the situation of Central Asian migrants will only worsen after this event. Street checks are likely to increase.”

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of revealing her identity, recalled that after the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in March, there were numerous raids and deportations of Central Asians from Russia and that this may happen again could happen. she said.

Russian investigators said the attack, which killed 144 people, was carried out by four men, all Tajik nationals.

The Kyrgyz woman who spoke to RFE/RL said she believes Uzbeks in Russia will continue to have a difficult time.

“Immigration laws in Russia are already being tightened. “It’s still going to get worse for them,” she said, noting that new laws come into effect on January 1 and “everything is going to get even harder.”

Kirillov, 54, is the top Russian military officer to be killed in an apparent assassination attempt since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

His death came a day after the SBU reported that Ukrainian prosecutors had filed charges against him, accusing him of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops during the war started by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine had.

According to the SBU, Russian forces used chemical weapons nearly 5,000 times during the war in Ukraine under Kirillov’s leadership. The claim could not be independently verified.

The RKhBZ are special forces operating in conditions of radioactive, chemical and biological contamination.

Kirillov is one of several Russian officers and war advocates killed in Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

His death came a week after a senior official at a Russian company developing cruise missiles used by Moscow in the war was reportedly shot dead just outside the capital.

Viktor Yahun, the former deputy head of the SBU, told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service in an interview that among the roughly 20 million people of Ukrainian descent in Russia, “there is a percentage who are willing to sincerely work for Ukraine . That’s why there are so many agents there.

Kirillov was featured in footage that was pivotal to one Investigation by the Russian RFE/RL service that revealed details about a restricted facility outside Moscow. The website is linked to the U.S. claim that Russia has an offensive biological weapons program that violates the U.N. Biological Weapons Convention.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev, now a senior Russian security official, said in a meeting on state television that NATO and Ukraine’s Western allies were behind the attack because they supported Kiev during Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighboring country.

“These individuals can and should be considered legitimate military targets,” he said.

NATO officials have not publicly commented on Medvedev’s comments, but Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, told reporters in Brussels that “Russia always poses a threat.”

“And it’s designed to scare us, so we see the threats we’ve heard before. I think the only answer we can have is not to be afraid,” she added.

Security analyst Yuri Fedorov told Current Time that he expects Russia “will certainly try to retaliate, so it is very likely that there will be attempts by Russian agents to kill high-ranking Ukrainian military and/or security officers.”

“The attacks on Russian generals may have political and psychological repercussions, but they cannot seriously hinder Russia’s military efforts: people like General Kirillov are not irreplaceable figures who cannot be replaced.”

With reporting by Zoriana Stepanenko in Brussels and Rikard Jozwiak in Prague