Killer ‘used fitness app Strava’ to shoot dead Russian sub commander

Stanislav Rzhitsky, a Russian submarine commander accused of war crimes in Ukraine, constantly uploaded his runs on the Strava app.

Stanislav Rzhitsky is accused of war crimes in Ukraine.

It was early morning when Stanislav Rzhitsky, a Russian submarine commander accused of war crimes in Ukraine, jogged through parkland close to a sports centre in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia. It would be the last run of his life.

An assassin dressed all in black fired repeatedly, hitting Captain Rzhitsky four times in the chest and the back, according to local media. Captain Rzhitsky, 42, died on the spot. The ambush bore all the hallmarks of a professional hit.

The assassin is likely to have tracked Captain Rzhitsky through the Strava jogging app, according to Baza, an independent Russian media outlet that is known for its sources within the security services. “He constantly uploaded his runs … and he almost always ran along the same route,” it said. “Largely thanks to this, it would not have been difficult for his killer to choose a convenient point for reprisal.”

Strava suspended its services in Belarus and Russia over the war in May last year but many people in both countries continue to use it via VPN — virtual private network — technology, which is easily available and disguises an internet user’s location.

Russian submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky was shot on Monday after potentially being tracked on a popular running app. Picture: Strava

Captain Rzhitsky was a second-rank captain in the Russian navy and commanded the Krasnodar submarine, which is in service with Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The submarine is said to have fired the Kalibr cruise missiles that killed 27 people, including children, in the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine last July. He was also deputy head of the military mobilisation department in Krasnodar. His assassination took place early on Monday but was not immediately reported by Russian police.

On Tuesday evening, a man was arrested and charged with Captain Rzhitsky’s murder. Video published by investigators showed armed officers bursting into a house and seizing the alleged gunman, who was wearing only his underpants. The suspect identified himself as Stanislav Denisov. He told officers that he was born in Ukraine and Russian media said he was 64.

Mash, a media outlet based Moscow, identified him as a former head of Ukraine’s national karate federation. It said that he had lived in Bucha, the town near Kyiv where Russian soldiers killed and tortured civilians last year.

The GUR, the Ukrainian military intelligence service, published a slick online video showing its forces engaged in combat operations. “The time for retribution has come,” it said. “GUR is working.” It also said that the Russian naval captain had been “eliminated” and provided a detailed account of the attack.

“Due to heavy rain, the park was deserted, so there are no witnesses who could provide details or recognise the attacker,” it said.

Local weather records indicate, however, that the weather was sunny and fine on the morning of the shooting. Captain Rzhitsky’s watch and headphones were found at the scene, suggesting that robbery was not a motive.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR, insisted that Ukraine had played no role in the assassination. “The roots of what happened yesterday in Russia must be sought in the Russian Federation itself, where internal protest against the war is growing,” he said. It is common for Ukrainian officials to celebrate attacks in Russia while stopping just short of claiming responsibility.

Yet as doubts emerged about Captain Rzhitsky’s role in the war, the Ukrainian armed forces claimed that he had been assassinated by Kremlin agents after refusing to take part in further attacks following the strike on Vinnytsia. “It is obvious that he was eliminated by his own side for refusing to continue to carry out orders,” the military said, without giving evidence.

Friends and family said that Captain Rzhitsky could not have been involved in the Vinnytsia strike, claiming he had handed in his resignation from the military in December 2021, shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine. They added, however, that he had continued to serve at a base in Russian-occupied Crimea until last August, when his resignation was accepted and he took up a position with the city administration in Krasnodar.

Captain Rzhitsky’s address and personal details had been uploaded to Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), an unofficial Ukrainian website that lists people who are said to be enemies of the country. The word “Liquidated” was stamped across his photograph on the website on Tuesday.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of being behind bombs that killed Vladlen Tatarsky, a pro-war blogger, and Darya Dugina, the daughter of a nationalist ideologue. Major General Budanov neither confirmed nor denied Ukraine’s involvement.

The Times