Ukraine-Russia War: Igor Kirillov, Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow

As head of Russia's radiation, chemical and biological protection troops, Igor Kirillov – who died in an explosion in Moscow – was accused by the West of overseeing the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

In Russia, he was considered a tireless patriot, fighting for the truth and denouncing Western “crimes”.

Sources in Ukraine's SBU security service said he was behind the explosion and described it as a special operation against a “war criminal” and a legitimate target.

According to Russian authorities, Kirillov and an aide were killed by explosives placed in an electric scooter, which exploded as he left the apartment building he lived in on Ryazansky Prospekt in southeastern Moscow.

He became famous for his extravagant briefings to the Russian Defense Ministry, prompting the British Foreign Office to label him “a leading voice for Kremlin disinformation.”

Kirillov was more than just a spokesperson, as he headed the Tymoshenko Academy for Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection, before heading the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops. biological weapons of the Russian army in 2017.

The main tasks of this force are to identify dangers and protect units from contamination, but also to “cause losses to the enemy using incendiary means,” according to the Russian Defense Ministry. This is believed to refer to the Russian flamethrower system which can destroy targets using thermobaric warheads.

Britain's Foreign Office said the force commanded by Mr Kirillov had deployed “barbaric chemical weapons in Ukraine”, pointing to what it called the widespread use of riot control agents and “numerous reports of the use of chloropicrin, a toxic agent that suffocates people.”

The day before his assassination, Ukraine's SBU said he had been cited in absentia in a criminal case for “massive use” of banned chemical weapons on Ukraine's eastern and southern fronts.

He cited “more than 4,800 cases of enemy use of chemical munitions” on Ukrainian territory since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

It specifies that toxic substances have been used in drone attacks as well as in combat grenades.

Kirillov gained notoriety early in the war with a series of claims directed at both Ukraine and the West, none of which were based on fact.

One of his most outrageous claims was that the United States had built biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine. This claim was used to try to justify the large-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor in 2022.

In March 2022, he produced documents that he said had been seized by Russia on the day of the invasion, February 24, documents that were amplified by pro-Kremlin media but refuted by independent experts.

Kirillov's notorious allegations against Ukraine continued this year.

Last month, he claimed that “one of the priority goals” of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Russian border region of Kursk was to seize the Kursk nuclear power plant.

He presented a slideshow, allegedly based on a Ukrainian report, claiming that in the event of an accident, only the territory of Russia would be exposed to radioactive contamination.

One of Kirillov's recurring themes is that Ukraine is seeking to develop a “dirty bomb.”

Two years ago, he claimed that “two Ukrainian organizations received specific instructions to create a so-called 'dirty bomb.' This work is in its final stages.”

His claims were rejected by Western countries as “patently false.”

But Kirillov's claims prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to warn that if Russia suggested that kyiv was preparing this type of weapon, it only meant one thing: that Russia was already preparing it.

Last summer, Kirillov returned to his dirty bomb allegations, this time reporting the discovery of a chemical weapons laboratory near Avdiivka, a town in eastern Ukraine that the Russians are targeting. were seized last February.

According to him, kyiv was violating the International Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) by using various substances with the help of Western countries, including the psychochemical warfare agent BZ as well as hydrocyanic acid and cyanogen chloride.

Russia is a signatory to the CWC and was deemed to have destroyed all of its Cold War-era chemical weapons in 2017, the same year Moscow was accused of carrying out two chemical attacks, in the British city of Salisbury and against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The United States has since accused Russia of using the suppressant agent chloropicrin on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Kirillov's violent death shocked the Russian military and political establishment. A minute of silence was observed in the Russian parliament, the Duma.

Deputy Speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament Konstantin Kosachev said his death was an “irreparable loss”, while retired general and MP Andrei Gurulyov said Kirillov's assassination would not go unnoticed. answer.

Mr. Gurulyov said he was responsible for acquiring weapons that should only be seen on the battlefield and that he fully understood the “criminal activities of the United States and its satellites.”

His death is also seen by pro-Kremlin loyalists not only as a blow, but also as proof that Ukraine has the ability to target high-level officials in Moscow.

Some commentators have even pointed the finger at the British or the Americans. According to Russian war correspondent Sasha Kots, this proves that enemy agents are operating and spying on people “in our rear.”