LThe claim did not take long. Barely had the explosion of a booby-trapped scooter killed Igor Kirillov and his deputy on Tuesday morning, in front of the building in the heart of Moscow where the former resided, when the Ukrainian security services (SBU) claimed responsibility for the attack. The day before, they had accused the 54-year-old Russian general, who has commanded the radiological, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian Defense Ministry since 2017, of “war crimes” against Ukrainian troops.
It was in the heart of Moscow that General Kirillov was killed, using a bomb hidden in front of his home.
AFP
This attack is the most spectacular of those attributed to the Ukrainians, or which they have claimed in Russia or in the occupied Ukrainian territories, since February 2022. Because the one who was liquidated is a first-rank general, involved in nuclear files, fervent defender of Putin’s “special operation”, and who regularly accused kyiv of preparing “dirty bombs”. “A patriot”, “an intrepid general who fought for the homeland and the truth”: the numerous official Russian reactions confirm the importance of the target.
Targeted by the United Kingdom
Last October, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions against those responsible for Russia’s deployment of chemical weapons on the battlefield. And he accused General Igor Kirillov and his troops of having participated “in the deployment of these barbaric weapons”. British sanctions (asset freeze, travel ban) also targeted two laboratories of the Russian Ministry of Defense, in this case on 27e science center and the 33e central scientific research and testing institute.
Ukraine blames Russia for “more than 4,800 cases of use of chemical munitions” since the start of the war. Moscow considers these allegations “absurd” and denies using weapons prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention to which it is a signatory. But the OPCW, the organization for their ban, documented at least one case of the use of riot control tear gas carried in a grenade last September on the Ukrainian front. This non-lethal but incapacitating agent has the advantage for the attacker of forcing the defenders to leave the trenches.
As in 1914-1918
The British and Americans believe that the Russian army also uses a toxic suffocation agent, chloropicrin, already used during the First World War. However, Russia said in 2017 that it had destroyed its stockpile of 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons. However, we remember in London that Russian agents administered the terrible nerve agent Novichok to a Russian opponent in Salisbury in 2018, the same one later used against Alexeï Navalny.
By striking such an important general in the ultra-protected Russian capital, Ukraine, struggling on the ground, sends a message to all senior officials who support Putin’s war. The day before, the Russian president had invited senior officials from the Ministry of Defense, including Igor Kirillov, to take stock of the fighting in 2024. And according to the Russian daily Kommersant, the attack could have been planned with a view to this meeting.
