Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare admission Thursday of the failures of his powerful security agencies in connection with Ukraine’s orchestrated assassination of a top general in Moscow. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the chemical and biological weapons unit of the Russian army, was killed by a bomb placed in a scooter Tuesday in Moscow, the most audacious assassination claimed by kyiv since the start of the conflict.
“Our special services did not achieve these successes. They missed these successes. This means that we must improve this work. We must not allow such serious mistakes to occur,” Putin said at his press conference end of year, speaking to a series of journalists. of attacks in Russia against prominent Kremlin supporters amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has been linked to previous attacks in Russia, including the car bombing of nationalist Darya Dugina in August 2022 and an explosion in a St. Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that killed the top military correspondent level Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.
Putin spoke for the first time about Kirillov’s assassination, more than 48 hours after the explosion in a residential area of the Russian capital. Questions have been asked in Moscow about the security protocols applicable to such a high-ranking and public figure involved in the military offensive against Ukraine.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
kyiv claimed responsibility for the attack, saying explosives were placed in an electric scooter left near the door of a residential building.
When Kirillov and his assistant left the building, it exploded, killing them both.
Russia has arrested an Uzbek citizen born in 1995 on suspicion of carrying out the attack, the Investigative Committee announced on Wednesday.
He claims to have been “recruited by Ukrainian special forces”.
Putin on Thursday called the attack “terrorism.”
A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service called Kirillov a “legitimate target” and accused him of being behind the mass use of banned chemical weapons on the front line in eastern Ukraine. ‘Ukraine.
Putin says he will meet with Trump ‘any time’ over Ukraine
Putin said Thursday he was ready to talk “at any time” with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who touted his ability to reach a peace deal in Ukraine hours after taking office.
Trump, who will return to the White House in January, has stoked fears in kyiv that he could force Ukraine to accept peace on terms favorable to Moscow.
Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS
At his annual end-of-year news conference, the Kremlin leader said his troops had the upper hand on the battlefield, but was forced to admit he does not know when Russia will retake the region western Kursk, where Ukrainian troops launched an incursion into the country. August.
The traditional annual question-and-answer sessions, which often last hours, are largely a television show while also being a rare setting in which he is embarrassed and answered uncomfortable questions.
Asked about Trump’s overtures regarding a possible peace deal, Putin said he would welcome a meeting with the new Republican.
“I don’t know when I’m going to see him. He doesn’t say anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him in over four years. I’m ready, of course. Any time.” Putin said.
“If we ever meet with President-elect Trump, I am sure we will have a lot to say,” he said, adding that Russia was ready for “negotiations and compromises.”
The Kremlin recently welcomed Trump’s sharp criticism of President Biden’s decision to allow kyiv to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike Russian territory – a major escalation in the nearly 20-year-old conflict. three years that Mr. Biden’s administration said was necessitated by Putin’s conscription in thousands of countries in the North. Korean soldiers to reinforce its own ground forces.
Russian troops have been advancing into eastern Ukraine for months, with Putin repeatedly touting their battlefield prowess.
“We are moving towards achieving the main goals that we set for ourselves at the start of the special military operation,” Putin said, using the Russian term for the conflict. “Our guys are fighting heroically. The capabilities of the armed forces are increasing.”
Moscow’s army advanced in November at its fastest pace in eastern Ukraine since the first month of its 2022 attack.
But asked by a woman in the Kursk region when residents will be able to return home, after thousands were evacuated from front-line areas amid the Ukrainian assault, Putin replied that he would not could not give a date.
“We will absolutely expel them. Absolutely. It cannot be otherwise. But on the question of a specific date, I’m sorry, I can’t say that at the moment,” he admitted.
Putin challenges West to shoot down powerful new Russian missile
Putin appeared to reiterate his threat to strike kyiv with Russia’s powerful new multi-warhead ballistic missile, dubbed Oreshnik. Russia has presented the Oreshnik as a hypersonic weapon that is virtually impossible to intercept, but a U.S. Defense Department official told CBS News it was evaluated as a variant of the existing Russian RS-26 rocket, an “experimental” intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
Asked by a military journalist on Thursday whether the weapon had any flaws, Putin suggested a “high-tech duel” between the West and Russia to test his claims that the weapon is impervious to air defenses.
“Let them set a target, say in kyiv. They will concentrate all their air defenses there. And we will launch an Oreshnik strike there and see what happens,” Putin proposed.
Assad’s overthrow in Syria not a ‘defeat’ for Russia, Putin says
In his first public comments since fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-AssadPutin rejected claims his overthrow a “defeat” for Russia.
“You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia,” Putin said in response to a reporter’s question. “I assure you no…we achieved our goals.”
Putin said he had not yet met with Assad, who fled to Moscow as rebels closed in on Damascus, but planned to do so soon.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty
Putin has come to Assad’s rescue repeatedly during Syria’s grueling civil war, and he risks losing an important military foothold in a volatile Middle East with his longtime ally now permanently out of power .
Putin says Russian economy is ‘stable, despite external threats’
Putin also came under pressure on Thursday over the economic difficulties facing Russia – the fallout from a huge increase in military spending and the severe labor shortage caused by the conflict.
He insisted the situation was “stable, despite external threats,” citing low unemployment and industrial growth.
Asked about the surge in inflation, Putin said “inflation is a worrying signal” and that rising prices for foods like butter and meat were “unpleasant.”
He acknowledged that Western sanctions were also a factor – “even if they are not of paramount importance” – and criticized his country’s central bank, saying it should have taken measures beyond the raising rates to reduce inflation.
