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Russian submarine commander accused of shelling Vinnytsia with Kalibr missiles shot dead in Krasnodar

The Insider

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Stanislav Rzhitsky, the deputy head of the military mobilization department in the city of Krasnodar, has been murdered by an unidentified gunman, according to a report by Russian media outlet Shot. The report has been confirmed by state-run news agency TASS and business publication RBC.

According to Shot, the 42-year-old Rzhitsky was attacked while on a morning jog near a local sports facility. An unknown assailant shot him four times in the back and chest before fleeing the scene. Rzhitsky died on the spot. A criminal investigation into the murder has been opened, and the attacker is being sought by law enforcement.

A post by Telegram channel Baza citing preliminary reports said the assailant who killed Rzhitsky had been monitoring him for an extended period, was familiar with his daily routines, and intentionally selected a location with no surveillance camera coverage.

Stanislav Rzhitsky was a 2nd-rank captain in the Russian Navy and commanded the Krasnodar submarine, which was equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles. Ukrainian media had accused Rzhitsky of firing Kalibr missiles from the submarine at the city of Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine on July 14, 2022. Twenty-seven people were killed as a result of the attack.

Rzhitsky was also listed in the Ukrainian Myrotvorets (“Peacemaker”) database as the commander of the submarine Alrosa, which is part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Myrotvorets is a website that publishes a running list of people who are considered by the authors of the website to be “enemies of Ukraine,” or, as the website itself states — “whose actions have signs of crimes against the national security of Ukraine, peace, human security, and the international law.”