A Russian submarine commander has been shot dead on his morning run after logging his route with the fitness app Strava.

‌Stanislav Rzhitskiy was found with four bullet wounds in his back near the Olimp sport complex in Krasnodar in southern Russia on Monday.

‌The 42-year-old had commanded the Krasnodar submarine, named after the city, which forms a core part of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

‌The vessel reportedly fired several cruise missiles at Vinnytsia in central Ukraine in July last year during an attack that killed 28 people.

‌Baza, a Telegram channel with close links to the Russian security services, said that Mr Rzhitskiy may have been an easy target for an assassin because he uploaded an identical four-mile run through wooded parkland on to the Strava running app almost every morning.

‌“The killer could track his route,” it said. “Largely thanks to this, it would not have been difficult for the killer to choose a convenient point for his reprisal.”