Ukraine says it killed Russian General Igor Kirillov in Moscow

A Ukrainian source told the BBC that a high-ranking general in the Russian armed forces and his assistant were killed in Moscow by the Ukrainian security service.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) Defense Forces, was outside an apartment building early Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a motorcycle was remotely detonated.

A source in the Ukrainian security service SBU claimed that Kirillov was a “legitimate target” and alleged that he had committed war crimes.

On Monday, the Ukrainian Security Service accused Kirillov, 54, in absentia, saying: On telegram He is “responsible for the mass use of banned chemical weapons.”

The Ukrainian government has not yet commented on the general’s death.

Pictures from the scene of the accident in southeastern Moscow showed the entrance to the building, which was severely damaged, with burn marks appearing on the walls and a number of windows broken. Two bags of bodies were also seen in the street.

The building was cordoned off on Tuesday morning while Russian investigators continued to comb the area.

In October, The United Kingdom imposed sanctions Kirillov said he oversaw the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and served as a “disinformation spokesman for the Kremlin.”

The Ukrainian security service claimed that Russia used chemical weapons more than 4,800 times under the general’s command.

Moscow denies these accusations.

SK said it had “opened a criminal case into the killing of two soldiers.”

“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” she added.

“Investigative procedures and operational research activities are being implemented with the aim of determining all circumstances of the crime.”

Official Russian news agencies reported that the explosive device – which killed Kirillov and his assistant on Ryazansky Boulevard – had an explosive force equivalent to 300 grams (0.7 pounds) of TNT.

They added that explosives experts and specialized search dogs searched the surrounding area and no other explosives were found.

Experts told BBC Verified that, judging from photos of the scene, It appears that the explosion was caused by an explosive deviceA type of homemade bomb that usually contains easily obtained components, such as nails or glass.

Assassinations of senior officials have occurred in Russia before, but attacks in Moscow are rare.

Lisa, who lives a block away from the site of the explosion, told the BBC she was not completely surprised, but that the killing of Igor Kirillov was a “shocking” development.

“It’s one thing to read about it on the news, it seems so far away, but when it happens next door, it’s completely different and scary,” she told me.

“yet, [the war] “It felt like it was happening at a distance – now someone’s dead, here, you can feel the consequences,” Lisa said, adding: “Unfortunately, I don’t think things will calm down anytime soon.”

Several other local residents said they initially thought the loud noise they heard came from a construction site.

Student Mikhail Mashkov, who lives in the building next door, told Agence France-Presse that he woke up to a “very strong explosion noise,” thinking that “something had fallen on the construction site,” before looking outside.

Olga Bogomolova said she thought a container had fallen at the construction site, but then she realized “it was a very strong explosion,” she saw “broken windows,” and that it was something else.

Residents of the area spoke to the BBC about their deep sense of shock.

Even after nearly three years since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, for many Muscovites the war is something happening from a distance – something they only see on their television screens or phones.

The killing of a Russian general in Moscow is a sign that this war is very real and very close to home.

Under the sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom, Kirillov was subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban.

in May, The United States accused Russia of spreading chemical weapons As a “tactic of war” in Ukraine, in violation of international laws prohibiting its use.

State Department officials said Russia used the asphyxiant chloropicrin to achieve “battlefield gains” against Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian Security Service, Russian forces used drones to drop chemical weapons on Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukrainian Colonel Artem Vlasyuk had previously said that more than 2,000 Ukrainian service members were treated in hospital for chemical poisoning over the course of the war, and three people died.

The Kremlin then rejected the accusations, describing them as “unfounded.”

Kirillov served in various roles in the Russian Army related to hazardous materials, including the Directorate of the Head of the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces.

He was appointed president of NBC in 2017.

In response to Kirillov’s death, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “It is clear that we will not mourn the death of an individual who promoted an illegal invasion and imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people.”

Nearly three years into the conflict, Ukrainian security services appear to be intensifying their targeting of senior Russian figures.

Kirillov’s death comes less than a week after a prominent Russian weapons expert was shot dead near his home in Moscow.

Ukrainian media reported that the assassination of Mikhail Chatsky was carried out by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service.

Senior Officer of the Russian Navy Valery Trankovsky and Head of Russian prison Sergei Yevsyukov He was also killed after car bombs exploded in Russian-occupied Ukraine in recent weeks.