Putin Aide And Key Russian Missile Developer Found Dead Near Moscow

Mikhail Shatsky, deputy general designer and head of its software department of the Mars Design Bureau, a Russian company that develops missiles used in Moscow's war with Ukraine, has been killed, according to Kyiv Independent.

He was shot dead by an unknown assassin in Kuzminsky Forest Park, at Kotelniki, eight miles southeast of the Kremlin in the Moscow region, according to the Astra Telegram channel and other Russian and Ukrainian sources.

Shatsky was employed by a company that creates and produces onboard guidance systems for the Russian space and military industries. It has been a part of the state corporation Rosatom's department since December 2017.

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He was also an associate professor and was working actively on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile to the Kh-69 level, which Russian troops use to strike Ukraine.

According to Kyiv Independent, Shatsky was seen as the main proponent of incorporating AI technology into Russian drones, aircraft, and spacecraft.

Shatsky's death was previously reported by Ukrainian-Russian anti-Kremlin journalist Alexander Nevzorov, who wrote on his Telegram channel that HUR "eliminated a particularly dangerous criminal."

Nevzorov shared photos of a person resembling Shatsky lying dead in the snow. The man was reportedly killed in the Kuzminsky forest park near Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims.

"Anyone who is involved in the development of the Russian military-industrial complex and support of Russian aggression in Ukraine in one way or another is a legitimate target of the Defence Forces," the source said.