kyiv claims assassination of senior Russian army official Igor Kirillov

A senior Russian army official was killed this Tuesday morning, December 17, in an explosion near a residential building in the southeast of Moscow. “The commander of the Russian nuclear, chemical and biological radio defense forces, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant were killed” in the explosion caused by the triggering of an explosive device, said the Russian Investigative Committee, responsible for the main investigations in the country, in a press release.

The Ukrainian security services (SBU) claimed responsibility for the assassination. “Today’s bomb attack against Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, commander of the radiological, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian Armed Forces, is a special operation of the SBU”said this source.

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General Kirillov, sanctioned in October by London for alleged deployment of chemical weapons in Ukraine, is the most senior Russian military official to have been killed in Moscow since the start of the Russian offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022. According to the investigators, “an explosive device placed in a scooter parked near the entrance to a residential building was activated on the morning of December 17 on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow”killing General Kirillov.

According to an AFP journalist on site, the windows of several apartments were broken by the explosion, and large police cordons were deployed around them. The entrance to the building was seriously damaged. “A criminal investigation into the assassination of the two soldiers in Moscow has been opened”specified the Investigative Committee, adding that investigators are in the process of establishing “all circumstances” facts.

“The murderers will be punished”

“An unprecedented crime has been committed in Moscow”reacted the Russian daily “Kommersant” on its site. General Kirillov “was not the leader of the most important participant in the Russian special operation” in Ukraine, estimates the newspaper. “But it was he who spoke, during his briefings, about American biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine”of which Moscow accused Washington, recalls “Kommersant”, affirming that the Ukrainian special services would be behind this assassination.

The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, deplored the loss of a general on Telegram “fearless, who never hid behind the backs of others”fighting “for the Fatherland and for the truth”. For his part, the vice-president of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, promised on Telegram that “The murderers will be punished. Without doubt and without pity”.

2024, “pivotal year” for Russia

In office since April 2017, Igor Kirillov was sanctioned in October by the United Kingdom for “deployment of barbaric chemical weapons in Ukraine”. Russian authorities have repeatedly rejected these accusations, calling them“absurd”.

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On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin took stock of the 2024 fighting in Ukraine, during a meeting with Defense Ministry officials, welcoming the pace of the advance of his troops and having « l’initiative » on the entire front at the end of this “pivotal year”. “According to one clue, the attack could have been prepared for this meeting at the Ministry of Defense with the participation of Vladimir Putin”says “Kommersant”. “But for whatever reasons, we would have decided to postpone it for the next day”adds the newspaper.