A senior Russian general was killed Tuesday in a bomb attack outside his apartment building in Moscow, just a day after Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) accused him of overseeing chemical weapons use during the Ukraine war.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s military nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces, was killed as he left for work. His assistant also died in the explosion. The bomb, reportedly hidden inside a scooter, was detonated remotely, according to Russian media reports.
Ukraine’s Security Service confirmed it was behind the attack. A source within the agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called Kirillov a war criminal and a legitimate target. The official referenced accusations that Kirillov directed the use of banned chemical weapons on Ukrainian battlefields.
The SBU has claimed to have recorded over 4,800 instances of Russia using chemical agents since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The U.S. State Department also reported in May that Russian forces had deployed chloropicrin, a poisonous gas first used during World War I, against Ukrainian troops.
Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a terrorism investigation into Kirillov’s death. Top officials in Moscow condemned the attack and vowed retribution. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, described the bombing as an attempt by Ukraine to distract from its military setbacks and warned that Kyiv’s leadership would face inevitable consequences.
Kirillov, who had led Russia’s chemical and biological forces since 2017, became one of the country’s most prominent voices in accusing Ukraine of using toxic agents and planning radiological attacks. Ukrainian officials, along with Western allies, have repeatedly dismissed those claims as unfounded propaganda.
The bombing of Kirillov follows a series of targeted killings linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In 2022, Darya Dugina, daughter of Kremlin ideologue Alexander Dugin, died in a car bombing near Moscow. Earlier in 2023, prominent military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by an explosive device in St. Petersburg. In December 2023, former Ukrainian lawmaker Illia Kiva, who had defected to Russia, was shot dead outside Moscow, while another attack in Russian-occupied Donetsk targeted Sergei Yevsyukov, a figure tied to a deadly prison strike involving Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Kirillov’s death comes amid a period of intensified fighting in Ukraine, with Russia continuing its offensive in the Donetsk region despite significant battlefield losses. Ukraine has tried to counter with operations on Russian soil, including in the Kursk region, but the conflict remains defined by slow territorial shifts.
The attack underscores the rising tensions and the ongoing pattern of high-profile assassinations tied to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
AP
