TASS news agency quoted a notice from the Russian Investigative Committee saying that General Igor Kirillov, Commander of Russia’s Biological, Chemical and Radiation Protection Forces, and his assistant were killed in an explosion in Moscow on morning of December 17 (Moscow time).
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Commander of Russia’s Biological, Chemical and Radiological Protection Forces, attends a press conference in Moscow, in this photo from a video released November 5
Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko announced that the explosion was caused by an explosive device planted in an electric scooter. Ms. Petrenko added that the Moscow department of the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the explosion.
Later, a source from the SBU told Reuters that Kyiv considered General Kirillov a war criminal and a “completely legitimate target”, accusing him of ordering the use of banned chemical weapons against the rebels. Ukrainian forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“The purging of the command of the chemical and radiation protection forces of the Russian Federation is the work of the SBU,” the source confirmed. Also according to the source, an electric scooter containing explosives exploded when General Kirillov and his assistant entered the entrance of a building on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow. Both were killed, according to sources.
In addition, a source in the SBU revealed to AFP that the explosion that killed General Kirillov in Moscow was part of a “special operation” by the Ukrainian security agency.
On December 16, Mr. Kirillov was charged in absentia by Ukrainian authorities with war crimes following an investigation by the SBU, according to AFP.
President Zelensky: Ukraine needs strength on the Kursk front to achieve diplomatic results
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said today that the Ukrainian leadership will face imminent retaliation for the killing of a top Russian general, according to RIA News Agency.
“Realizing that military defeat was inevitable, they launched cowardly and despicable attacks on peaceful cities,” Mr. Medvedev said. Mr. Medvedev is considered an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters.
There is currently no reaction from Kyiv to the above information from AFP and Reuters as well as Mr. Medvedev’s warning.
