This post was originally published on France24
The killing in the heart of Moscow of his general in charge of chemical weapons comes on the eve of the Russian president’s traditional marathon end-of-year press conference. Putin’s so far yet to comment on his country’s precipitated drawdown from Syria after the fall of Assad but he’s sure to opine on the death of under-sanctions general Igor Kirillov, what with the arrest of an Uzbek suspect who’s confessed to working for Ukraine.