The chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops was killed outside an apartment building when a bomb hidden underneath an electric scooter exploded.
Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service confirmed to Reuters that it was behind Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov’s death. “The liquidation of the chief of the radiation and chemical protection troops of the Russian Federation is the work of the SBU,” a source told the outlet.
An official with the SBU described Kirillov as a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target” to the Associated Press.
On Monday, the SBU accused Kirillov of using banned chemical weapons. The SBU said it recorded more than 4,800 instances where the lieutenant general used chemical weapons in warfare since 2022. The U.S. State Department also recorded Russia using chloropicrin, a poison gas first used in World War I, the AP noted.
Russia denied using chemical weapons in Ukraine, instead accusing Ukraine of utilizing toxic substances in warfare.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said Ukraine’s “senior military-political leadership will face inevitable retribution.”
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram that Kirillov had “systematically exposed the crimes of the Anglo-Saxons,” including the “NATO provocations with chemical weapons in Syria,” “Britain’s manipulation of banned chemical substances and provocations in Salisbury and Amesbury,” and “the deadly activities of American biolabs in Ukraine.”
Several other Russian figures have been killed since the start of the 2022 conflict, including Russian commentator Darya Dugina, military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, and former pro-Moscow Ukrainian lawmaker Illia Kiva.
