One of Vladimir Putin’s top generals was killed in an explosion when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter detonated outside his Moscow apartment. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, a senior officer responsible for radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops, was killed in the blast just after leaving his apartment building with his driver, who also died in the attack.
The bombing, believed to have been carried out by a Ukrainian hit squad, came just a day after Kyiv accused Kirillov of overseeing the use of banned chemical weapons against its forces in the conflict zone. Kirillov assassination is a major blow to Putin as the war takes a new turn.
Putin’s Top General Eliminated
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The Ukrainian SBU security service has charged Kirillov in absentia with war crimes, accusing him of overseeing more than 4,800 documented instances of Russian troops deploying chemical weapons since the beginning of the full-scale war.
The Russian investigative committee confirmed Kirillov’s death, saying : ” Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and his assistant were killed.”
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Photos shared on Russian Telegram channels showed the entrance of the building in ruins, with debris scattered and two lifeless bodies in the blood-soaked snow.
The entrance door was completely torn off, and the windows were shattered. The general’s official car, which had arrived at 6 a.m. to pick him up, was also damaged.
It is believed that the bomb was hidden in or on an electric scooter at the location, which emergency teams were seen examining.
The bomb was likely remotely triggered, creating an explosion that milbloggers estimated to be equivalent to about 200 grams of TNT.
In response to the blast at Kirillov’s building on Moscow’s Ryazansky Prospekt, the Russian Investigative Committee launched a criminal case.
Investigation Launched
Investigators confirmed the deaths of two men, with one identified only as Ilya P., and said that they are working to identify a suspect in the incident.
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While Ukraine did not immediately claim responsibility, the explosion occurred just hours after the SBU announced that Kirillov had been charged for the use of banned chemical weapons.
Kirillov was accused of orchestrating the deployment of K-1 grenades filled with restricted irritant agents, CS and CN, as confirmed by two laboratories linked to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The grenades were dropped by FPV drones, designed to force Ukrainian soldiers out of their trenches and into the open, exposing them to gunfire. The chemicals allegedly caused intense irritation to the eyes and respiratory system, leading to the hospitalization of around 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the start of Russia’s invasion.
Kirillov had been the head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defence Troops since 2017. He played a key role in the development and implementation of the TOS-2 Tosochka heavy flamethrower system.
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He was also known for promoting conspiracy theories about the use of chemical and biological weapons by the West in Ukraine.
In March 2022, he delivered a presentation to the Defence Ministry, claiming that American biolabs in Ukraine were working on projects to create biological weapons using bats, birds, and even mosquitoes.
Kirillov also accused Ukraine of carrying out provocations involving toxic chemicals, including the use of a “dirty bomb.”
