General’s assassination pierces Moscow’s air of normality

Appearance and reality: there is a constant battle in Moscow between the two.

Despite nearly three years of war, life here can seem so normal: from the crowds of commuters on the Metro to the bars and clubs packed with young Muscovites.

Then, suddenly, something happens to remind you: there is nothing normal about Russia today.

That “something” can be a Ukrainian drone penetrating Moscow’s air defences.

Or – even more dramatic – what happened on Tuesday morning: the targeted assassination of a senior Russian general as he walked out of an apartment block.

When Lt Gen Igor Kirillov and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov were killed by a bomb concealed on an electric scooter, the reality of Russia’s war on Ukraine hit home.

At least to those Russians close to the crime scene.

“It’s one thing reading about it in the news, it feels far, but when it happens next door to you, that’s completely different and frightening,” Liza tells me. She lives one building from the site of the blast.

“Until now, [the war] felt as if it was happening a long way off – now someone is dead, here, you can feel the consequences.

“My anxiety has gone through the roof. Every sound you hear unnerves you – you wonder whether it’s a drone or something at a construction site,” Liza says.

This perception of Russia’s war in Ukraine as something distant – I’ve heard that so often here. I get the sense that, for a considerable portion of the population, this is a war they only experience on their TV screen or on their smart phone. In many ways, a virtual war.

Astonishing, really, considering the large number of dead and wounded.

But the killing of a Russian general in Moscow: that is a definite wake-up call; proof that this war is very real and very close to home.

Will it serve as a wake-up call for the Russian authorities?

Probably not. There is little sign of a Kremlin U-turn on Ukraine. Moscow is far more likely to intensify the war.

Just look at the signs.

Reacting to news of Kirillov’s killing, the host of a political talk show on Russian state TV blamed Ukraine and claimed that “with this attack President Zelensky has signed his own death sentence”.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said “investigators must find the killers in Russia.” He added: “We must do everything to destroy their patrons who are in Kyiv.”

From President Vladimir Putin there has been no public reaction so far to the killing of the general and his assistant.

But the Kremlin leader has said many times before that, faced with security threats, Russia “will always respond”.

Based on that pledge, retaliation is likely.

On Thursday, the Kremlin leader is due to hold his annual end-of-year press conference and phone-in. It’s normally a marathon affair broadcast live by all the main TV channels.

I wonder: will he use the event to comment on the dramatic early morning assassination of Kirillov?

Will he break his silence on Syria? The Russian president has so far said nothing publicly about the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s key ally in the Middle East.

And what will he tell Russians about where their country is heading, as the war in Ukraine – what Putin still calls his “special military operation” – approaches the three-year mark?