Russian chemical weapons spokesman
As head of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection forces, Igor Kirillov – who died in an explosion in Moscow – was accused by the West of overseeing the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Sources from the Ukrainian security service SBU said it was behind the explosion and described it as a special operation against a legitimate target.
Kirillov and one of his aides were killed by an explosion of explosives planted in an electric motorcycle, according to Russian officials, which exploded as he was leaving the building where he lived on Ryazansky Prospekt in southeastern Moscow.
He became known for bizarre briefings at the Russian Ministry of Defense, prompting the British Foreign Office to classify him as an agent. “Spokesman for Kremlin disinformation”.
More than just a mouthpiece for his cause, Kirillov headed Russia’s Tymoshenko Academy of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection, before assuming command of the Russian Army’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces in 2017.
The British Foreign Office said He said the force he commanded had deployed “barbaric chemical weapons in Ukraine,” highlighting what he described as widespread use of riot control and “multiple reports of the use of the toxic choke agent chloropicrin.”
On the eve of his killing, the Ukrainian Security Service announced that he had been named in absentia in a criminal case on charges of “mass use” of banned chemical weapons on the eastern and southern fronts in Ukraine.
She pointed to “more than 4,800 cases in which the enemy used chemical munitions” on Ukrainian territory since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
She added that toxic materials were used in drone attacks as well as in combat grenades.
Kirillov gained notoriety from the beginning of the war with a series of allegations directed toward both Ukraine and the West, none of which were based on facts.
Among his most outrageous claims was that The United States was building biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine. It has been used in an attempt to justify a large-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor in 2022.
He submitted documents in March 2022 that he claimed were seized by Russia on the day of the invasion on February 24, which were amplified by pro-Kremlin media but refuted by independent experts.
Kirillov’s notorious allegations against Ukraine continued into this year.
Last month he claimed that “one of the priority objectives” of Ukraine’s counterattack on the Russian border region of Kursk was to seize the Kursk nuclear power plant.
He presented a slideshow, allegedly based on a Ukrainian report, claiming that in the event of an accident only Russia’s territory would be exposed to radioactive contamination.
One of Kirillov’s recurring themes was that Ukraine was seeking to develop a “dirty bomb.”
Two years ago, he claimed that “two organizations in Ukraine have specific instructions for making a so-called ‘dirty bomb’. This work is in its final stage.”
Western countries rejected his claims as “patently false.”
But Kirillov’s allegations prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to warn that if Russia indicated that Kiev was preparing this type of weapon, it would mean only one thing – that Russia was already preparing it.
Kirillov returned to his claims about the dirty bomb last summer, this time claiming the discovery of a chemical weapons laboratory near the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, which the Russians seized last February.
He alleged that Kiev is violating the International Chemical Weapons Convention with a variety of substances with the help of Western countries, including the chemical psychological warfare agent BZ as well as hydrocyanic acid and cyanogen chloride.
Kremlin loyalists view his death as a blow, but also evidence that Ukraine has the ability to target senior officials in Moscow.
Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said his death was an “irreparable loss.”
