Moscow [Russia]: Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, a senior Russian military official accused of overseeing chemical weapon use in Ukraine, was killed in a bomb blast in Moscow, CNN reported, citing Russian investigators.
Kirillov, head of Russia’s radiological, biological, and chemical protection forces, died alongside his assistant Ilya Polikarpov when a remotely detonated bomb planted in an electric scooter exploded outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Street, approximately 7 kilometers southeast of the Kremlin.
The attack was claimed by Ukraine, with a Ukrainian source stating, “Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, as he gave orders to use banned chemical substances against the Ukrainian military. Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable.”
The bombing followed a Ukrainian court’s in-absentia sentencing of Kirillov for alleged chemical weapon use during Russia’s invasion. The blast, described by Russia’s Investigative Committee as a “terrorist act,” involved explosives equivalent to 300 grams of TNT, Russian news agency TASS reported.
A video obtained by CNN shows the moments leading to the explosion. Kirillov and Polikarpov can be seen leaving a residential building and heading toward a car when the bomb detonates, engulfing the screen in a flash of white.
Kirillov, 54, is the highest-ranking Russian military official killed since the start of the war in February 2022. His death underscores escalating tensions in the ongoing conflict.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) alleges that Kirillov ordered over 4,800 instances of chemical munitions use since the war began, particularly employing irritant agents like chloropicrin. Chloropicrin, a World War I-era chemical weapon banned under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), has been linked to attacks on Ukrainian troops.
Before his death, the US had sanctioned Kirillov’s government entity for its use of chemical agents like chloropicrin against Ukraine. Russia has yet to respond officially to the allegations of chemical weapons use or the assassination.
Russia’s Investigative Committee is probing the bombing, which further intensifies the already volatile dynamics of the Russia-Ukraine war.