A top Russian general, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who was accused of using chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, was killed in a bomb blast in Moscow on Tuesday, according to Russian investigators.
Kirillov, 54, was head of Russia’s radiological, biological and chemical protection forces, and was responsible for Russia’s use of banned weapons during its invasion of Ukraine. He was killed by a remotely detonated bomb planted in an electric scooter outside an apartment building in Moscow, around 7 kilometers southeast of the Kremlin.
The blast came a day after Ukrainian prosecutors sentenced Kirillov in absentia for Russia’s use of chemical weapons during its invasion. A Ukrainian security source later confirmed that the country’s SBU security service was behind the attack, calling Kirillov a “war criminal” and a “legitimate target” for using banned chemical substances against Ukrainian forces.
Kirillov is the most senior military official to be killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. His assistant, Ilya Polikarpov, was also killed in the blast.
The bomb is believed to have packed explosive power equivalent to around 300 grams of TNT, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a probe into the attack, calling it a “terrorist act”.
Kirillov’s assassination is the latest in a series of targeted attacks on Russian military personnel. Ukraine’s SBU has recorded over 4,800 cases of Russian use of chemical munitions since the war began, including grenades equipped with irritant chemical agents.