Retired Russian Officer Who Bombed Ukraine Assassinated While Jogging

Officer Rejitski Who Participated in Ukraine War
Shot 7 Times and Killed While Jogging Near Home

A retired Russian Navy officer listed as a war criminal in the Ukraine war was assassinated while exercising in a park near his home.

According to reports from Russian local media and foreign news outlets on the 11th (local time), Stanislav Rezhitsky (42), a retired Russian Navy officer, was shot multiple times and killed while jogging in a park near the Olimp Sports Center in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia, in the early hours of the 10th.

Stanislav Rezhitsky during his tenure as commander of the Krasnodar submarine base in the Black Sea.
[Photo by Ukraine Frontline on Twitter]

Ukraine's military intelligence agency issued a statement on Telegram, revealing that Rezhitsky was shot seven times with a Makarov pistol and died at the scene. The Russian daily Kommersant reported that Rezhitsky was a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Navy and served as the captain of the Krasnodar submarine, part of the Black Sea Fleet.

Last July, the Ukrainian military stated that Vinnytsia, Ukraine, was hit by a Russian missile attack, killing 23 civilians, including three children, and injuring over 100. They claimed that the submarine commanded by Rezhitsky participated in this attack.

Ukraine included Rezhitsky on its war criminal list in connection with this attack. However, Rezhitsky's father told the local online media outlet Baza that his son had expressed his intention to leave the military in December 2021, before the war broke out, and was discharged in August last year, asserting that he never participated in the Ukraine war.

Suspect is former president of Ukraine Karate Federation from Bucha

On the 11th, Russian authorities arrested Stanislav Denisov, former president of the Ukraine Karate Federation, as a suspect in the assassination. Denisov is known to be from Bucha, Ukraine, where Russian forces committed civilian massacres.

Streets of Vinnytsia, Ukraine, hit by Russian missile attack last year [Photo by AP·Yonhap News]

Local media suggest that the popular jogging app 'Strava' was used in the assassination of Rezhitsky. Russian authorities focused on the fact that Rezhitsky regularly posted his jogging routes and durations on the fitness app, estimating that they tracked his location through this information. It was also revealed later that Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Defense Ministry Intelligence Directorate (GUR), was following and monitoring the routes posted on the app at the time.

However, Ukraine denied involvement in this incident. Kyrylo Budanov, GUR director, stated, "Ukraine had no role in the killing of Rezhitsky," adding, "The root of this incident should be found in internal Russian issues, where opposition to the war is growing."

Meanwhile, Strava is developed by a U.S.-based company of the same name and creates "heat maps" using location data displayed when users exercise. Due to concerns that the locations of U.S. military bases and troop movements worldwide could be exposed, its use has been banned in operational areas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.