Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's radioactive, chemical, and biological defense forces, was killed Tuesday when a bomb planted in a scooter exploded outside a Moscow residential building, Russian authorities said.
Video: The moments of the attack / Credit: Russian social media
According to the Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian officials confirmed the killing was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine, a day after the agency named Kirillov as a suspect in an investigation of war crimes for allegedly ordering the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine.
NEW: Video footage shared with @FT shows the assassination of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov and his assistant in Moscow this morning. Story here with @maxseddon https://t.co/UJ69DcJ3lr pic.twitter.com/OdQyO9JEN4
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 17, 2024
Kirillov and an aide died after the explosive device detonated near the entryway to an apartment complex on Ryazansky Avenue, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement to The Russian News Agency RIA Novosti.
"Investigators, forensic experts, and operational services are working at the scene of the incident," the committee said. RIA Novosti published a photograph showing what the news agency described as a bomb-disposal robot operating outside a brick building in the Russian capital.
Video: The explosion site in Moscow. Credit: Russian social media
According to a biography published by RIA Novosti, Kirillov helped develop the TOS-2 thermobaric rocket launcher. The Russian military has frequently reported using this weapon system in Ukraine.
The assassination marks the most prominent killing of a senior Russian military official far from the battlefield since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The killing comes amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, with Ukraine increasingly demonstrating its ability to strike targets deep within Russian territory.
