The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) orchestrated the killing of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s radiation, chemical, and biological defense units, in Moscow, according to a source within the agency cited by AFP.
Describing it as a “special operation,” the source revealed details of the strike, reported by TASR.
Kirillov and his assistant were killed early Tuesday morning when an explosion rocked the entrance of an apartment building on Riazan Prospect. The blast, triggered by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter, occurred around 6:00 a.m. local time. Russia’s Investigative Committee (Sledkom) launched a probe into the “murder of two soldiers.”
Emergency services reported that the explosive device had the power of about 200 grams of TNT. The explosion shattered windows from the first to third floors, damaged the building’s entrance door, and impacted Kirillov’s official vehicle parked nearby.
The incident followed accusations by the SBU on Monday, alleging that Kirillov ordered the use of prohibited chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops. The SBU claims more than 4,800 instances of chemical weapons deployment have been recorded since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaving over 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers suffering from varying degrees of chemical poisoning.
An unnamed SBU source described Kirillov as a war criminal and an “absolutely legitimate target” for the operation.
