Putin missile boss SHOT DEAD in Moscow ‘assassination’ after masterminding production of weapons blitzing Ukrainians

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A LEADING Putin missile scientist has been “eliminated” in a Moscow park, according to reports.

Mikhail Shatsky was gunned down by an unknown assassin in Kuzminsky forest park, at Kotelniki, eight miles southeast of the Kremlin.

Mikhail Shatsky, a leading Russian missile scientist.

Leading Russian missile scientist Mikhail Shatsky, was killed in a park[/caption]

Pixelated image of a body lying in the snow.

The body was found in a Moscow park[/caption]

Blurry night-time security camera footage of a snow-covered park.

He was killed in a Moscow park by a gunman[/caption]

Reports say the scientist, an associate professor, was working actively on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile.

There was immediate speculation that he was assassinated by Ukrainian military intelligence.

“Today, the GUR forces in Moscow eliminated a particularly malicious criminal – Deputy General Designer, Head of the Software Department of the Mars Design Bureau, Mikhail Shatsky,” reported exiled Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov.

“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.”

He published macabre pictures of a man’s body lying in the snow.

Russian APN news agency reported: “As a result of the shooting in Kotelniki on December 11, Mikhail Shatsky, the head of the software department of the Mars Design Bureau, was killed.

“He was engaged in the modernisation of the X-59 cruise missiles and developed the latest types of UAVs [military drones].

“Ukrainian nationalists claimed responsibility for the murder.”

There was no immediate official Russian statement.

Ukraine’s 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 there had been reports of a shooting at the park location on Tuesday without any identification of the victim.

“Budanov has long arms,” said Nevzorov, referring to the head of the GUR, Ukrainian general Kyrylo Budanov.

The Kh-59 has been more closely linked to the Raduga Design Bureau than to Mars, which Shatsky worked for.

But Mars had been involved in the modernisation and production of control systems for booster units and onboard control systems for Raduga-designed missiles like the Kh-59 and Kh-69.

Both the Kh-59 and Kh-69 air-launched cruise missiles have been widely used by Putin’s forces against Ukraine in the war.

Reports said no arrests had been made linked to the shooting.

Nationalist pro-Putin media outlet Tsargrad demanded: “Why wasn’t an expert of such level guarded in any way?”

The latest suspected killing follows the assassination of Russian GRU military intelligence officer Nikita Klenkov, 44, in October, killed as he drove his Hyundai Palisade SUV close to his home at military town Solnechnogorsk-2 in Moscow region.