Deputy mayor who aimed missiles at Mariupol killed in explosion in Russia's Stavropol
Zaur Gurtsiev, Deputy Mayor of the Russian city of Stavropol who led the airborne part of the operation to capture Mariupol, has been killed in a nighttime explosion on the night of 28-29 May.
Source: Governor of Stavropol on Telegram; RIA Novosti; Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Stavropol Krai; Astra and SHOT Telegram channels
Quote from the governor of the Stavropol Krai: "Zaur Alexandrovich Gurtsiev, a veteran of the SVO [special military operation, the name given by Russian propaganda to the war against Ukraine – ed.] and participant in the Time of Heroes programme, has been killed as a result of a nighttime incident on Chekhov Street in Stavropol."
Details: The official said that law enforcement agencies and special services are working at the scene. The investigation is ongoing. The governor added that the theory of this "terrorist attack" having a "Ukrainian influence" is also being considered.
In September 2024, Gurtsiev was appointed first deputy mayor of Stavropol.
Russian propagandists said that two people had been killed in a grenade explosion on Chekhov Street in Stavropol. The city's mayor Ivan Ulyanchenko specified that two men had been killed in the explosion, which occurred near a residential building.
Background:
In 2024, Russia decided to launch programmes to train and recruit participants in the war against Ukraine for government agencies and state-owned companies. These plans emerged after Russian ruler Vladimir Putin announced at the United Russia party congress the need to create similar programmes at regional level.
In particular, in May 2025, the authorities of North Ossetia appointed 34-year-old Yuri Abaev, a former Russian army officer who goes by the alias Buyvol, whom Ukraine's Defence Intelligence has identified as one of the killers of Ukrainian prisoners of war, as the new Minister of Labour and Social Protection.
In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed in an explosion in Moscow. The day before, the Security Service of Ukraine served the general with a notice of suspicion in absentia.
In April 2025, a car exploded in the city of Balashikha near the Russian capital Moscow, killing a lieutenant general of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
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