A schoolboy, 14, has been arrested inMoscowafter a knife attack on two scientists linked to Russia’s feared new nuclear-capable Oreshnik weapons programme — in an incident that has triggered a near-total information blackout by the Kremlin. The teenager is accused of stabbing two senior researchers outside the secretive Polus Research Institute in southwest Moscow.
Bizarrely, he and an accomplice, 18, evidently believed they were on a secret mission ordered byRussian secret services, and would be “personally rewarded” by a gratefulVladimir Putin. The institute develops laser and optoelectronic components used in modern Russian weapons systems, including missile guidance technology, drones and targeting equipment. The victims were 70-year-old defence scientists Vladimir Simakov and Alexander Lobintsov, according to Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which has links to Moscow’s secret services. Both are believed to have worked on components for advanced weapons systems including the much-publicised “Oreshnik” missile project.
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The attack reportedly took place on March 3 at around 4.30pm near the entrance checkpoint of the institute on Vvedenskogo Street, after which Putin’s secret services threw a veil of secrecy over the knifings.
Investigators say the 14-year-old allegedly stabbed the scientists while his accomplice filmed the attack on a phone.
Simakov suffered the most serious injuries, including stab wounds to the neck, chest and shoulder, and was rushed to hospital in serious condition fighting for his life.
Lobintsov managed to fight back using his briefcase, escaping with a “cut to his hand”.
The alleged accomplice — identified as Filipp Karapetyan, 18, a student at Moscow’s elite Financial University — is said to have filmed the assault.
The 14-year-old was formally arrested by Moscow’s Cheryomushkinsky District Court on March 5 and charged with attempted murder of two people acting in a group for mercenary motives, but this went unreported byRussia’s Kremlin-loyal media.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
