General Kirillov, 54, sanctioned in October by London for the alleged deployment of chemical weapons in Ukraine, is the most senior Russian military official known to have been killed since the start of the Russian offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022 .
According to Russian investigators, the explosive device was a booby-trapped scooter parked near the entrance to a residential building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow. The windows of several apartments were broken by the explosion, and a cordon of police was deployed in the surrounding area. The entrance to the building was heavily damaged.
General accused of “war crimes”
The assassination of Igor Kirillov in the Russian capital was immediately claimed by the Ukrainian security services (SBU) who accused the general of “war crimes” on Monday.
“Attempts to intimidate our people, stop the advance of the Russian army and sow fear are doomed to failure,” responded former President Dmitry Medvedev, current vice-president of the Russian Security Council . “The murderers will be punished, without doubt and without mercy,” promised Konstantin Kosachev, vice-president of the Federation Council, the upper house of Parliament.
Western chancelleries, for their part, barely reacted. “We will not mourn the death of an individual who took part in an illegal invasion and imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people,” a British government spokesperson said.
