Igor Kirillov led Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defense forces. Kyiv accused him of ordering the use of chemical weapons against Ukraine.
Posted at 12:00 a.m.
General Igor Kirillov, killed by a bomb in Moscow on Tuesday morning, was responsible for the Russian army’s nuclear and chemical weapons. An official from the SBU, Ukraine’s security service, claimed responsibility for the assassination on behalf of Ukraine. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Russia’s details of the assassination.
How was he killed?
General Kirillov, 54, and a deputy were killed by the explosion of a bomb placed in a scooter parked in front of the entrance to a residential building, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said, a law enforcement agency.
The explosion occurred at 6:12 a.m. and shattered the windows of several apartments, according to RIA Novosti, Russia’s state news agency.
PHOTO ASSOCIATED PRESS
Investigators examine the scene of the explosion where a scooter lies in front of the damaged building in Moscow.
Why him?
The day before his death, Ukraine accused Igor Kirillov of being responsible for “the massive use of banned chemical weapons” in Ukraine. According to the SBU, Russian forces have used chemical weapons on the battlefield more than 4,800 times since the invasion, on Kirillov’s orders. Russia denied similar accusations at a meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in July.
PHOTO ALEXANDER NEMENOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Many curious people gathered behind security lines the day after the explosion.
Ukraine says the Russian military often uses CS and CN grenades that release chemical irritants. Such tear gas, used by riot police to control crowds, is prohibited by law of war rules under the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty ratified by 193 states, including Russia.
The U.S. State Department said last spring that Russia used chloropicrin, a widely used suffocating agent during World War I, as well as tear gas on the battlefield. The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Igor Kirillov this fall, citing his responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
PHOTO MAXIM SHEMETOV, REUTERS
The residential building from which General Kirillov and his deputy emerged after the explosion on Tuesday morning in Moscow
According to the Russian military, the specialized division that General Kirillov commanded is responsible for protecting Russian troops in the event of the use of chemical and nuclear weapons.
He has been very active in Russia’s propaganda campaign against Ukraine and the West, often carrying unfounded information in print media and on television. In 2023, he said the United States plans to use drones “designed to spread infected mosquitoes.”
How will Russia react?
Dmitry Medvedev, former president and vice-president of the Russian Security Council, has promised “inevitable reprisals” against “Ukraine’s military and political leaders”, according to the national news agency Tass.
This article was published in the New York Times.
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