Russian General Igor Kirillov was killed in Moscow in an explosion from a bomb placed on a parked scooter outside a building. Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attack through an official from its Security Service (S.B.U.).
General Kirillov was the head of Russia’s radiological, chemical, and biological defense forces and contributed to the development of the TOS-2 rocket launcher, which the Russian military frequently uses in Ukraine.
In 2023, Kirillov accused the United States of planning to use non-drone devices “designed to spread infected mosquitoes.”
Ukraine has accused him of being responsible for the “widespread use of banned chemical weapons” in Ukraine, according to the NYT. The S.B.U. claimed that Russian forces used chemical weapons on the battlefield more than 4,800 times since the war began, under General Kirillov’s orders. Russia denied the allegations during a meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in July.
The assassination of General Kirillov is the most significant killing of a Russian military official away from the battlefield since the invasion began in 2022. While other Russian generals have been killed in occupied Ukraine or near the front line, Kirillov is the highest-ranking military official to be killed within Russia.
