The general in charge of the Russian military’s nuclear and chemical weapons protection forces was killed by a bomb on a Moscow street on Tuesday, in one of the most brazen assassinations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.
The general, Igor Kirillov, 54, died along with an aide after an explosive device planted in a scooter was detonated on Tuesday morning near the entryway to a residential building, Russia’s Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency, said in a statement.
An official with Ukraine’s security service, known as the S.B.U., said that Ukraine was responsible for the killing. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive intelligence operation, confirmed the details of the assassination given by Russia.
The S.B.U. considered General Kirillov a legitimate target, the official said. A day before the general’s killing, Ukraine had accused him of criminal activity, saying he was responsible for the “massive use of banned chemical weapons” in Ukraine. The security service said that Russian troops had dropped ammunition with toxic compounds onto Ukrainian positions in efforts to force Ukrainian soldiers out of their trenches.
According to the Russian military, the division that General Kirillov oversaw carries out specialized tasks like protecting Russian troops when chemical and nuclear weapons are used, as well as offensive operations like attacks with incendiary weapons.
General Kirillov was the head of Russia’s radioactive, chemical and biological defense forces. He helped develop a thermobaric rocket launcher, the TOS-2, according to a biography published by RIA Novosti. The Russian military frequently reports its use in Ukraine.
His apparent assassination represents the highest-profile such death of a Russian military official far from the battlefield since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While other Russian generals have died in occupied Ukraine or near the front line, he is the highest-ranking military official to have been killed inside Russia.
General Kirillov, who once headed a Russian military academy, was also prominent in Russia’s propaganda campaign against Ukraine and the West, frequently addressing the news media and appearing on television with unfounded claims. In 2023, for instance, he said that the United States was planning to use drones “designed to spread infected mosquitoes.”
General Kirillov also claimed that Russian forces had uncovered a Ukrainian chemical weapons production laboratory near Avdiivka, a Ukrainian city that Moscow’s troops captured in February. Part of the buildup to the war was an effort by Russia to portray Ukraine, without evidence, as a hub for producing weapons of mass destruction at the behest of the West. Ukraine vigorously denied the claim.
The explosion that killed General Kirillov occurred about 6:12 a.m. and was so powerful that it damaged windows as far up as the third floor and shattered them in a building across the street, the RIA Novosti state news agency reported. source: Web
