Putin missile scientist ‘is gunned down in Moscow park by Ukrainian military hit squad’
A top Putin rocket scientist has reportedly been shot in a Moscow park by a Ukrainian military assassin.
Mikhail Shatsky, the deputy chief designer at the Mars Design Bureau, which develops and produces onboard guidance systems for the Russian military and space industries, was reportedly eliminated by an unknown assassin in the Kuzminsky Forest Park, in Kotelniki, eight miles southeast of the Kremlin.
According to reports, the scientist, an associate professor, was actively working on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile to the Kh-69 level, which Russian forces use to attack Ukraine.
There was immediate speculation that he was assassinated by Ukrainian military intelligence.
“Today the GUR forces in Moscow eliminated a particularly vicious criminal: Mikhail Shatsky, deputy general designer and head of the software department of the Mars Design Bureau,” exiled Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov reported.
“He was involved in upgrading the Kh-59 cruise missiles to the Kh-69 level, introducing new UAVs, and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainians.”
Nevzorov also published macabre photos of a man’s body lying in the snow.
Russian news agency APN reported: ‘As a result of the Kotelniki shooting on December 11, Mikhail Shatsky, the head of the software department of the Mars Design Bureau, was killed.
Putin’s leading rocket scientist Mikhail Shatsky was ‘eliminated’ in a Moscow park by a gunman, amid claims of an assassination by Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence service
His body was discovered in the snow in a Moscow park
According to reports, the scientist, an associate professor, was actively working on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile (photo) to the Kh-69 level, which Russian forces use to attack Ukraine.
Shatsky also developed and predicted the reliability of spacecraft control systems based on the theory of neural networks, as well as many other issues related to spacecraft.
‘He was involved in the modernization of the X-59 cruise missiles and developed the latest types of UAVs [military drones].
“Ukrainian nationalists have claimed responsibility for the murder.”
There was no immediate official Russian statement.
Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne said it had received confirmation from Ukrainian “special services” that Shatsky had been “eliminated.”
Footage showed Russian emergency services arriving at the snow-covered scene.
Earlier on Tuesday there were reports of a shooting at the park location without any identification of the victim.
“Budanov has long arms,” Nevzorov said, referring to the head of the GUR, Ukrainian General Kyrylo Budanov.
“It seems that none of those guilty of the genocide of the Ukrainians will die a natural death.”
The Kh-59 is more closely associated with the Raduga Design Bureau than with Mars, where Shatsky worked.
But Mars had been involved in the modernization and production of control systems for booster units and control systems on board Raduga-designed rockets such as the Kh-59 and Kh-69.
Raduga specializes in the development and production of cruise missiles for various purposes.
In addition to the specialization, Shatsky also developed and predicted the reliability of control systems on board spacecraft based on the theory of neural networks, as well as many other issues related to spacecraft.
Above is a selection of images from when Russia first used Oreshnik against Ukraine on November 21
Both the Kh-59 and Kh-69 air-launched cruise missiles have been widely used by Putin’s forces against Ukraine during the war.
It comes as Russia threatened to fire another of its hypersonic ballistic missiles at Ukraine within days, the United States warned on Wednesday.
President Vladimir Putin has a handful of experimental missiles known as Oreshnik, or hazel.
He claims that the missile is impossible to intercept and that it has a destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, even if equipped with a conventional warhead.
It is capable of destroying underground bunkers “three, four or more floors below,” Putin boasted last month, threatening to use it against the government district in Kiev.
But the Oreshnik, an experimental missile, is seen by U.S. officials more as an attempt at intimidation than a game-changer.
“We believe that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather just another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine that will fail,” an official told Reuters.