8 March 2026

In Moscow, a 14-year-old teenager attempted to kill the leading employees of the strategic defense enterprise Polyus Scientific Research Institute named after M.F. Stelmakh.

Rucriminalinfo reported on this.

The Cheryomushkinsky District Court has placed the detainee, Ilya Osipov, in pre-trial detention. He is charged with the attempted murder of two people committed by a group in a premeditated conspiracy.

Law enforcement officers also detained 18-year-old Philipp Karapetyan. Investigators say the teenager did the stabbing while his accomplice recorded the attack on video.

The victims were 70-year-old scientists Vladimir Simakov and Alexander Lobintsov, who have spent decades developing semiconductor lasers and components for modern Russian weapons systems, including the Oreshnik system.

14-year-old Ilya Osipov detained. Photo credits: rucriminalinfo

Simakov sustained severe stab wounds to the neck and chest. He spent 47 years working at the Polyus Institute, rising from engineer to chief designer and deputy general director.

The second victim, Alexander Lobintsov, managed to fend off the attacker with a briefcase and suffered a hand injury.

According to reports, the motive was a promised payment for completing a “secret mission” allegedly linked to Russian special services.

According to the detainees’ parents, unknown coordinators promised the perpetrators RUB 1 million and a personal reward from the Russian president.

Similar schemes involving young people in attacks on strategic facilities and specialists through messaging platforms have become increasingly common in Russia. In this case, the targets were laser technology developers.

Visualization of the Oreshnik missile system (Gemini-generated based on a scaled model of the Oreshnik recorded in Lukashenko’s office in September 2025)

Oreshnik (Kedr)

The Russian medium-range ballistic missile is believed to be developed on the basis of the RS-26 Rubezh.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence has stated that the system’s real name is not Oreshnik but Kedr.

The missile is reportedly equipped with six warheads, each carrying six submunitions. Its speed in the terminal phase of flight exceeds Mach 11.

Tests of the Kedr missile system were conducted at the Kapustin Yar test range in October 2023 and June 2024.

In August 2019, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the United States and Russia expired.

The agreement, together with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3), formed the foundation of nuclear arms control between the United States and Russia. For decades, both agreements limited the expansion of the two countries’ nuclear arsenals.

The INF Treaty prohibited the United States and the USSR (and later Russia) from producing and deploying missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Despite these restrictions, the United States first accused Moscow of violating the agreement in 2014.

NATO and Washington have since repeatedly stated that Russia developed the 9M729 missile (designated SSC-8 by NATO). According to intelligence assessments, the weapon has a range of about 1,500 kilometers, which would violate the terms of the treaty.

14-Year-Old Detained in Moscow Over Attack on Oreshnik System Engineers