A senior Russian general accused by Ukraine of overseeing the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops was assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service on Tuesday morning, marking the most high-profile targeted killing of its kind.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed along with his assistant when a bomb concealed in an electric scooter detonated outside an apartment building, Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed.
An SBU source later verified Ukraine’s involvement in the operation. “The liquidation of the chief of the radiation and chemical protection troops of the Russian Federation is the work of the SBU,” the source told Reuters. According to the source, the explosive-laden scooter was remotely detonated as Kirillov, 54, and his aide entered a building on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow.
The assassination marks a significant escalation in Ukraine’s covert operations against high-ranking Russian military officials. Kirillov, Ukraine alleges, was directly responsible for the use of chemical weapons during Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. His death represents a strategic blow to Moscow, as he is the most senior Russian officer to be assassinated within Russian territory.
Ukraine has consistently defended such operations as a legitimate response to Russian aggression. Facing an existential threat from Moscow’s invasion, Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russian officials it holds accountable for war crimes and atrocities committed against Ukrainian forces and civilians.
The attack is expected to trigger a strong response from Russian authorities. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and now a senior security official, vowed imminent retaliation, stating that Ukraine’s political and military leadership would face severe consequences.
Moscow has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for orchestrating a series of high-profile assassinations inside Russia to undermine morale and punish individuals Kyiv considers complicit in the war. However, Kyiv’s intelligence operations, including the killing of Kirillov, signal Ukraine’s expanding capabilities and willingness to target key figures directly.
Reuters footage from the scene showed a devastated building entrance, with blackened bricks, doors blown off their hinges, and two bodies covered in black plastic lying on the snow.
This high-stakes assassination underscores the intensifying covert war between Ukraine and Russia, with Kyiv demonstrating its resolve to strike deep into Russian territory against figures it deems central to Moscow’s military operations.
