Moscow court sentences Uzbek national to life in prison over death of Lieutenant General Kirillov

The court found Ahmadjon Kurbonov guilty of organizing and executing the bombing that killed Kirillov and his aide, Ilya Polikarpov, in Moscow in December 2024. Under the verdict, Kurbonov will serve the first 10 years of his sentence in prison, with the remainder to be spent in a high-security penal colony. He was also fined 1 million rubles.

According to investigators, Kurbonov was the direct perpetrator of the attack. The court noted that he fully admitted his guilt and expressed remorse for his actions.

The same case involved three additional defendants. Botukhan Tochiev was sentenced to 22 years in prison, while Ramazon Padiyev and Robert Safaryan received sentences of 18 and 25 years respectively. Safaryan partially admitted guilt, while Padiyev and Tochiev denied all charges.

Kirillov and Polikarpov were killed on the morning of 17 December 2024, when a bomb planted on an electric scooter exploded near the entrance of an apartment building on Ryazan Avenue where the general lived. Kurbonov was detained several hours after the blast and charged with terrorism and illegal arms trafficking. He was subsequently placed in pretrial detention.

Russian law enforcement authorities claim that during interrogation Kurbonov said he had been recruited by Ukrainian special services, who allegedly promised him $100,000 and assistance in traveling to a European country in return for carrying out the attack. Investigators also allege that Tochiev and Padiyev rented a room at a hostel in the Moscow region for Kurbonov, where he was supposed to hide after the attack.

The verdict brings to a close one of the most high-profile terrorism cases heard by a Russian military court in recent years.