Crossword Genius

King heading off mischief-maker in Russian citadel (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

kremlin

'russian citadel' is the definition.
(building in Moscow)

'king heading off mischief-maker' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'K' (abbreviation for king in chess).
'heading off' means to remove the first letter.
'mischief-maker' becomes 'gremlin' (magical creature).
'gremlin' with its initial letter taken off is 'remlin'.
'k'+'remlin'='KREMLIN'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for kremlin that I've seen before include "Seat of government in Moscow" , "fortress" , "Castle" , "centre of government" , "Seat of Russian government" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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