A Russian counterintelligence officer was shot and killed in Moscow, Russian sources reported on Tuesday.
A Russian Telegram channel, which claims to have links to the Kremlin’s security services, reported that a senior lieutenant with Russia’s FSB security agency was fatally shot in the head inside a Russian Defense Ministry building in central Moscow.
One account with purported ties to intelligence authorities and a separate Russian state media report named the officer as Vladimir Feshchenko, a counterintelligence specialist with the FSB. Russian state-controlled news agency reported Feshchenko’s death, but did not reference Moscow’s security agency directly.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The FSB is Russia’s main security agency, and a successor to the notorious Soviet-era KGB.
Several FSB officers have died in suspicious circumstances in recent years. Oleg Erovinkin, who served as a general in both the KGB and the FSB, was discovered dead in his car in Moscow in late 2016, in what many described at the time as suspicious circumstances.
AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
What To Know
Russia’s Tass state-controlled news agency reported that Feshchenko had been killed, but described him as a “kettlebell lifting champion” and made no mention of a connection to the FSB.
The Russian VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reported Feshchenko was both a counterintelligence officer and a “world-famous athlete.”
The account claimed Feschenko had met with a “friend” at his office in Moscow, adding the pair had both “served in the Far East.” Feshchenko later joined the FSB, according to the account.
The unnamed “friend” had bought a ticket for a train departing the capital city at later that night, the account said.
Feshchenko’s body was then “found at his workplace,” the account claimed. “He was covered in blood, with a deep wound on his forehead.”
One person has been arrested under suspicion of murder, the Tass news agency reported, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel said a source had told the account that the alleged killer was detained at the scene after a fight with Feshchenko.
Who Said What
Russia’s Tass state news agency, citing an anonymous source: “Vladimir Feshchenko, the Russian champion in kettlebell lifting, was killed on Olkhovaya Street in the center of Moscow. During the examination, a gunshot wound to the head was found. The reason for the murder was a domestic conflict with a military man.”
The Russian VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, citing an unspecified anonymous source: “The body of FSB officer Vladimir Feshchenko was found at his workplace. He was killed.”
What Happens Next
Russian sources reported that authorities had launched a criminal investigation, but provided few other details.
