CNN
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A Russian submarine commander shot dead while jogging on Monday may have been targeted by an assailant who tracked him on a popular running app, according to Russian media.
Stanislav Rzhitsky was killed earlier this week in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar by an “unknown person,” state news agency TASS reported, adding that “the motive for the crime is being investigated.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee told Telegram that a person was detained in connection with Rzhitsky’s murder, adding that the suspect had a pistol with a silencer in his hand “with which, most likely, the murder was committed.”
Russian media then reported that Rzhitsky’s killer may have used Strava, a widely available app used by runners and cyclists, to track his movements.
Rzhitsky’s jogging and cycling routes can be seen on an account in his name on the Strava app. One of his regular jogging circuits he took while working in Krasnodar included the park where he was killed early Monday.
A Russian media outlet, Tsargrad, said the killer “planned the killing so much that the time of the attack was not seen on any CCTV camera.”
“The killer was waiting in the park near the sports complex ‘Olympus,’ where Rzhitsky used to jog in the morning. The man died instantly, the shooter ran.”
A Strava profile in Rzhitsky’s name shows that he also previously cycled in Sevastopol in 2014, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based.
CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the Strava profile, but it included several photos of him.
From Strava
Russian submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky was shot on Monday after possibly being tracked by a popular running app.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence revealed how Rzhitsky was shot, in an unusually detailed statement on Telegram. The agency has not explicitly accepted responsibility for the commander’s death.
“The submariner was jogging in the ’30th Anniversary of Victory’ park in Krasnodar. Around 6 in the morning, he was shot seven times with a Makarov pistol. As a result of the gunshot wounds, Rzhitsky died instantly,” the statement said. .
“Due to the heavy rain, the park was abandoned, so there were no witnesses who could provide details or identify the attacker.”
Rzhitsky commanded one of Russia’s Black Sea fleet’s Kilo-class submarines, capable of firing Kalibr cruise missiles, according to a Ukrainian statement and Russian news reports.
Submarine-launched missile attacks have been responsible for some of the deadliest strikes on Ukrainian cities, including one almost exactly a year ago in the central city of Vinnytsia that killed scores of people, including three children.
A later statement by the Department of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian armed forces sought – on the face of it – to play down suggestions that Kyiv may have staged the attack.
In language that strikes a detached, perhaps even sarcastic tone, the statement says that Rzhitsky concluded that missile attacks that kill civilians are ineffective.
“Apparently, he was eliminated by his own people for refusing to continue implementing combat orders from his command regarding missile attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities,” the statement concluded.
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Rzhitsky’s family said he “did not participate” in the war in Ukraine “in any way,” and intends to leave the Russian armed forces in 2021, according to Russian media outlet Baza.
Rzhitsky filed a report for dismissal from the Armed Forces of Russia in December 2021. His father said he was in Sevastopol during his dismissal and did not go to sea, Baza reported. He once commanded a submarine based in Sevastopol, his father added.
In August 2022, the commander was finally fired and later got a job in the Krasnodar administration.
Rzhitsky’s parents said they spoke to him the day before he was killed and that he was “in good condition,” according to Russian media outlet Izvestia.
“If he had doubts, maybe he changed his plan, route, etc. But he didn’t say anything,” said his father.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has asked for a report on the progress of the investigation into Rzhitsky’s death.
The war in Ukraine has spread across the Russian border in recent months, amid reports of heavy shelling, drone strikes, and brief attacks on villages in an apparent attempt to -destabilize Moscow’s faltering invasion.
Separately, a senior Russian commander was killed near the Russian-held town of Berdiansk in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian officials.
The adviser of Vadym Boichenko, the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, said that Lt. gen. Oleg Tsokov was killed Tuesday. The mayor does not currently live in Mariupol, which is under Russian control.
CNN was unable to independently verify reports about the cause of Tsokov’s death — which would deprive Russia of one of its most experienced generals. Tsokov is also the most senior Russian general to be killed in Ukraine.
However, a Russian Telegram channel, Military Informer, wrote on Tuesday that a “strike by British Storm Shadow cruise missiles on the reserve command post of the 58th Army near Berdyansk,” killed “the deputy commander of the Southern Military District, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov .”
Tsokov, 51, is a rising star in the Russian military. In 2021, he spoke at a Kremlin ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin for military cadets. Thanking Putin for pushing the modernization of Russia’s military, Tsokov said: “For us, the profession of an officer is not just service. This is the call and meaning of all life, the willingness to sacrifice life for our great Mother.”
Amid continued turmoil in Russia’s command structure, Tsokov continued to be promoted through the campaign. A presidential order in February elevated him to the rank of lieutenant general.
He remains in the Russian armed forces despite reports by Russian military bloggers that he was wounded in September in the Svatove area of Kharkiv.
At that point it appears that he was the commander of the 20th Guards Army, which had just been promoted from the command of the 144th Motorized Rifle Division.
Independent analysts and CNN’s own tally show that Russia has lost about 10 generals in combat since the invasion began.
