His body was found in a park on the outskirts of Moscow.
Leading Russian rocket engineer Mikhail Shatsky was found dead in a park near his home on the outskirts of Moscow on Thursday. Ukrainian newspapers write that he was killed by Ukrainian military intelligence HUR. TASR informs about it based on the reports of the independent Russian newspaper The Moscow Times and American media.
Michail Šackij was the deputy chief designer and head of the software department of the MARS development center, which falls under the state company Rosatom. MARS develops automatic control and navigation systems for satellites and unmanned aircraft.
Exiled Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov, who first reported the killing of the Russian rocket engineer, claims that Shatsky was in charge of upgrading the Ch-59 surface-to-surface missiles to the Ch-69 model, which is capable of flying low over terrain. Both of these models are known to be used by Russia in the fighting in Ukraine. Shatsky was also allegedly the main supporter of the introduction of artificial intelligence in the Russian aviation and space industry.
Russian authorities have not commented yet
Several Ukrainian media outlets, including RBC and Ukrainska pravda, reported on Šakky’s murder. According to their sources, Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) is behind his death.
“Anyone who in any way participates in the development of the Russian military-industrial complex, thereby supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine, is a legitimate target of the (Ukrainian) defense forces,” an unnamed source told Ukrainian news website Hromadske.
The Russian authorities have not yet commented on Šacký’s death. The American station Rádio Slobodná Európa/Rádio Sloboda reported that the independent investigative website IStories managed to identify a location near Šacký’s residence through the geolocation of footage from the crime scene, but his death remains unconfirmed.
