Former Russian Submarine Commander Gunned Down on His Morning Run

A former Russian submarine commander accused of targeting Ukrainian civilians with cruise missiles last summer was gunned down in southern Russia early Monday morning while jogging, according to Russian state media and Ukrainian Military intelligence officials, who did not claim responsibility.

“According to investigators, the body of Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, was found with gunshot wounds near Beregovaya Street on Monday morning,” reported TASS news agency about the shooting in the southern city of Krasnodar. 

Rzhitsky was serving as a mobilisation official at the time of his murder, said TASS, but he was immediately identified as a Russian Navy officer, who last summer commanded a diesel-powered submarine accused by Ukraine of intentionally targeting civilians. Rzhitsky, according to Ukraine, was responsible for a cruise missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia last July, in which 27 people died.

In an unusually detailed statement released on Telegram, Ukrainian military intelligence confirmed the killing and added some alleged detail, but stopped short of actually claiming responsibility for the hit. 

“The submariner was jogging in the ’30th Anniversary of Victory’ park in Krasnodar. Around 6AM, he was shot seven times with a Makarov pistol. As a result of the gunshot wounds, Rzhitsky died on the spot,” the statement said. “Due to heavy rain, the park was deserted, so there were no witnesses who could provide details or identify the attacker.”

Russian state media, however, released a grainy image of a suspect reportedly caught on a local CCTV camera. 

According to the Reuters news agency, a Ukrainian-run database of suspected Russian war criminals that had previously listed Rzhitsky as “Wanted” had changed his status to “Liquidated.”

Open source investigators and Russian media outlets have reported that Rzhitsky, an exercise enthusiast, had repeatedly posted the routes of his running and cycling to a popular exercise app, Strava, and was shot while running near an athletic complex, leading to speculation that the app helped his assassins locate and kill him.

“Ukraine wants Russian officials to believe Ukrainian assassins can reach them anywhere, even at home,” said a Western official, who declined to be named and said they had no knowledge of any specific Ukrainian operation. 

“As for the running watch question, all I can say… it’s been basic [operational security] for years [for military and intelligence officers to not upload their location data to public websites],” they said. “This isn’t a new issue.”