A senior Russian general in charge of nuclear protection forces in Moscow has been killed by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was Chief of the Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, was killed outside an apartment building.
A Russian news agency quoted a law enforcement official as saying the explosive device “had a capacity of some 300g [10.6oz] in TNT equivalent.”
Authorities in Russia have opened an investigation into the bomb blast in southeastern Moscow that also killed an aide of Kirillov.
A day before he was killed in a bomb blast in Moscow, Ukrainian prosecutors had charged Kirillov in absentia with the alleged use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Russia denies those accusations.
In October, the United Kingdom sanctioned Kirillov and the nuclear protection forces for the use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of chloropicrin – a toxic, choking agent – on the battlefield.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) specifically prohibits chloropicrin’s use.
Russia has said it no longer possesses a military chemical arsenal, but the country faces pressure for more transparency over the alleged use of toxic weapons. Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, said it had recorded more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons on the battlefield, particularly K-1 combat grenades, since February 2022.
Meanwhile, a source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said that the agency was behind the General’s killing and called him a “legitimate target.”
The source with the SBU said that the agency Ukrainian officials regarded Kirillov as a war criminal. The source said, according to a news agency, “The liquidation of the chief of the radiation and chemical protection troops of the Russian Federation is the work of the SBU.”
Ukraine has yet to officially comment.
Kirillov is the most senior Russian army official to be targeted on Russian territory.
Ukraine To Face ‘Imminent Revenge’ For Killing Of Russian General
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said that the Ukrainian leadership will face imminent revenge for the killing of Kirillov.
“Attempts to intimidate our nation, stop the Russian offensive or sow fear are doomed. Certain punishment awaits Banderite Nazis, including the top military and political leaders of a crumbling country.
“This terrorist attack demonstrates the agony of the Banderite regime, which is struggling to justify its shaky existence in the eyes of its Western patrons and prolong the deadly hostilities while delivering cowardly attacks on civilians in cities and towns.”
Dmitry Medvedev
The senior Russian security official described Kirillov as a true patriot of Russia. “Igor [Kirillov] was a military leader known for his unwavering devotion to his duties. I knew him as a dedicated professional and a reliable, honest, and responsible person,” he added.
Additionally, Maria Zakharova, Spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said that Kirillov worked “fearlessly for the Motherland” to expose what she said were the West’s chemical weapons-related and other crimes, as well as what Moscow says were cover-ups in Syria and elsewhere.
Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a number of assassinations on its soil since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Some of the most high-profile cases are the August 2022 killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultranationalist Alexander Dugin, in a car bombing, the April 2023 killing of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a cafe bombing, the July 2023 shooting of submarine Commander Stanislav Rzhitsky, who was accused of war crimes by Ukraine and November’s killing of senior naval officer Valery Trankovsky in a car bombing in Sevastopol.
READ ALSO: Ghana’s Robust FDI Performance: $56.02 Million Secured in Q2 2024
