Senior Russian general, who was accused of the ‘mass use of chemical weapons’, killed in Moscow explosion

Igor Kirillov, a Russian general who had been accused of using chemical weapons, has been killed by an explosion in Moscow - as Ukraine claims responsibility for the blast.

A senior Russian military official has been killed after an explosive device hidden in a scooter went off outside a building in Moscow.

Igor Kirillov, the commander of Russian armed forces’ chemical, biological and radiation defence troops, was killed along with his deputy when “an explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance of a residential building was activated on the morning of December 17 on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow”, the Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) said in a statement. Russian authorities said they were probing the attack as “terrorism”

A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed it was behind the early morning explosion in what it called a “special operation”, according to AFP, Reuters and the BBC.

Ukraine’s SBU alleged Kirillov was “a legitimate target” because he was a “war criminal” who gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military on the battlefield.

“Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, as he gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military,” the SBU source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

“Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable,” the source added.

Russian authorities said they were probing the attack as “terrorism”

Senior Russian military official Igor Kirillov was killed on December 17, 2024 when an explosive device hidden in a scooter went off outside a building in Moscow, officials said. (Photo by Handout / Russian Defence Ministry / AFP)

The explosion took place in the south-eastern part of the capital, roughly 6.5km from the Kremlin’s headquarters. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office earlier denied Ukrainian involvement in Kirillov’s death.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said: “Ukraine does not use methods of terrorist formats.

“We have all the events on the battlefield. We have decisions on this or that general that are made on the battlefield.

“Kirillov was a big whistleblower, perhaps it’s an internal showdown, went where he didn’t need to go, found out what he didn’t need to find out.”

The explosion took place in the south-eastern part of the capital, roughly six-and-a-half kilometres from the Kremlin. Images showed a wall that had been destroyed by the blast, as a bloodstained body bag lay on the ground nearby.

“At first we thought that cement might have been unloaded or something similar,” a local resident said of the incident that killed him, according to the BBC.

“But the blast was so loud that it did not seem like construction works. It was very scary.”

A view of the blast scene, which killed the commander of Russian armed forces' chemical, biological and radiation defence troops, Igor Kirillov, and his deputy, according to the Russian Investigative Committee, outside a residential building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow on December 17, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

The entrance door of the building was torn off and the windows were broken in the blast.

Kirillov’s official car, which had arrived to collect him at 6am local time, was also damaged.

It comes a day after Kyiv had accused Kirillov of overseeing the widespread use of banned chemical weapons against its troops in the conflict zone.

The weapons cause severe irritation to mucous membranes, including the eyes and respiratory tract, it was alleged.

This had resulted in some 2,000 Ukrainian troops being hospitalised since Russia’s invasion began.

The SBU said: “The Security Service has documented war crimes committed by Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops of the Russian Armed Forces.

“The official is responsible for the mass use of prohibited chemical weapons by Russian militants against the Defence Forces on the eastern and southern fronts of Ukraine.

“On Kirillov’s orders, more than 4,800 cases of the enemy using chemical munitions have been recorded since the beginning of the full-scale war.”

Kirillov had served as the Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defence Troops since 2017.

He took part in the creation and adoption of the TOS-2 Tosochka heavy flamethrower system

He was also known for spreading conspiracy theories about Western use of chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine.

In March 2022, he gave a Defence Ministry presentation about alleged American biolabs in Ukraine that are developing projects to spread biological weapons using bats and birds.

His death comes five days after the shooting of Mikhail Shatsky, a designer from the Mars Design Bureau, who had worked actively on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile.

-With The Sun