Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday made a rare admission of failings by his powerful security agencies over the Ukraine-orchestrated killing of a senior general in Moscow. Lt. General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military’s chemical and biological weapons unit, was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter in Moscow on Tuesday, the boldest assassination claimed by Kyiv since the start of the conflict.
“Our special facilities have not succeeded in those successes. They missed the successes. This means that we want this work. We will have to not allow such serious mistakes to happen,” Putin said at his year-end press conference, speaking with a series of journalists attacks in Russia opposed to prominent Kremlin supporters in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has been linked to previous attacks in Russia, including the August 2022 car bombing of nationalist Darya Dugina and an explosion in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that killed high-profile military correspondent Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.
Putin spoke for the first time about Kirillov’s murder, more than 48 hours after the explosion in a residential complex in the Russian capital. Questions have been raised in Moscow about the security protocols applicable to such a high-ranking and public figure involved in the military offensive against Ukraine.
Kyiv claimed responsibility for the attack, saying explosives were packed into an electric scooter left by the door of a residential building.
When Kirillov and his assistant left the building, it detonated, killing them both.
Russia arrested an Uzbek citizen born in 1995 on suspicion of carrying out the attack, the investigative committee said Wednesday.
He claims to have been “recruited by the Ukrainian special forces. “
Putin on Thursday attacked “terrorism”.
A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service called Kirillov a “legitimate target” and accused him of being responsible for the extensive use of banned chemical weapons on the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
Putin said Thursday that he is able to communicate “at any time” with US President-elect Donald Trump, who highlighted his ability to achieve 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 favourable to Moscow.
Holding his annual end-of-year press conference, the Kremlin leader said his troops held the upper hand across the battlefield, but was forced to admit he does not know when Russia will take back the western Kursk region where Ukrainian troops launched an incursion in August.
The traditional annual question and answer sessions, often lasting hours, are largely a televised show while also being a rare setting in which he is put on the spot and answers some uncomfortable questions.
When asked about Trump’s proposals 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 isn’t saying anything about it. I haven’t talked to him in more than four years. I am ready for it, of course. Any time,” Putin said.
“If we ever meet with President-elect Trump, I’m sure we’ll have a lot to say,” he said, adding that Russia was in a position to “negotiate and compromise. “
The Kremlin recently welcomed Trump’s harsh complaint about President Biden’s decision to allow kyiv to use U. S. -supplied missiles to attack Russian territory, a major escalation in the nearly three-year conflict that Biden said was necessary. due to Putin’s recruitment of thousands of soldiers. countries of the Global North. North Korean infantry to their own ground forces.
Russian troops have been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months, and Putin boasts of his battlefield prowess.
“We are moving towards achieving the main objectives that we set at the beginning of the army’s special operation,” Putin said, the Russian term for the conflict. “Our boys fight heroically. The functions of the armed forces are increasing. “
Moscow’s army in November advanced at its fastest pace in east Ukraine since the first month of its 2022 attack.
But asked by a woman from the Kursk region when residents will be able to return to their homes there, after thousands were evacuated from frontline areas amid the Ukrainian assault, Putin said he could not name a date.
“Surely the expulsaremos. Absolutamente. De the opposite. But on the question of an express date, I’m sorry, I can’t say that at this point,” he admitted.
Putin appeared to reiterate his risk of attacking kyiv with Russia’s new and robust multi-warhead ballistic missile, called Oreshnik. Russia has touted the Oreshnik as a hypersonic weapon that virtually intercepts, however, a U. S. Department of Defense official told CBS News that it has been evaluated as a variant of the existing Russian RS-26 rocket, a long-range ballistic missile. intermediate (IRBM) “experimental”.
Asked Thursday by a military journalist if the weapon had any defects, Putin advised a “high-tech duel” between the West and Russia to test their claims that the weapon is impervious to air defenses.
“Let them establish a target, let’s say in kyiv. There they will take care of all their air defenses. And we will launch an Oreshnik attack there and see what happens,” Putin proposed.
In his first public comments since the fall of ex-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Putin rejected claims that his toppling was a “defeat” for Russia.
“You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia,” Putin said in response to a question from a journalist. “I assure you it is not… we have achieved our goals.”
Putin said he has not yet met Assad, who fled to Moscow as rebels closed in on Damascus, but plans to soon.
Putin has come to Assad’s rescue several times during Syria’s grueling civil war, and risks squandering a vital army foothold in a volatile Middle East, with his old best friend now permanently out of power.
Putin was also pressured on Thursday by the economic difficulties facing Russia — the fallout from a massive increase in military spending and severe shortages of hard work caused by the conflict.
He insisted on the “stable” scenario, despite external threats, which implies low unemployment and trade growth.
Asked about the surge in inflation, Putin said “inflation is a being worried signal” and that emerging costs for foods like butter and meat were “unpleasant. “
He claimed that Western sanctions also exist — “even if they’re not of paramount importance” — and criticized his country’s central bank, saying it has taken steps beyond raising rates to bring down inflation.