A senior Russian army official died on Tuesday, December 17, in the explosion of an electric scooter in Moscow. He was agitated, according to France Infoof a terrorist act claimed by kyiv.
The victim was Igor Kirillov, lieutenant general of the Russian army. The latter was swept away in the explosion of a “scooter parked near the entrance to a residential building”. His deputy also died in the explosion. According to our colleagues, an explosive device would have been placed in the scooter and would have been activated remotely.
The entrance to the building was partially destroyed, indicates the Russian Investigative Committee, which decided to open an investigation into “terrorist act”.
“The murderers will be punished”
In the process, the Ukrainian secret services claimed responsibility for the assassination. “Igor Kirillov was a war criminal and a completely legitimate target, since he ordered the use of banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian army”indicates a source close to the matter cited by AFP.
“An unprecedented crime has been committed in Moscow”declared the Russian daily Kommersant on its site this Tuesday morning. “The murderers will be punished. Without doubt and without mercy”, also assured the vice-president of the Federation Council on Telegram.
This is the first time since the start of the conflict in Ukraine that such a high-ranking soldier has been shot dead on Russian soil. The man in question, who had held this position since April 2017, had been sanctioned by the United Kingdom for “deployment of barbaric chemical weapons in Ukraine”.
