Russia’s top general, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, was assassinated in Moscow on Tuesday by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service, in the most high-profile killing of its kind. Kirillov, 54, who headed Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building along with his assistant after a bomb hidden in an electric scooter detonated.
The Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit, according to an SBU source confirmed by Reuters. The assassination is likely to prompt the Russian authorities to review security protocols for their top brass. Former president Dmitry Medvedev vowed to avenge what he called an act of terrorism, saying Moscow would find the killers and destroy the masterminds.
Russia denies allegations it uses chemical weapons on the battlefield, but Kirillov had been accused by Ukraine of violating nuclear safety protocols. Britain has imposed sanctions on Kirillov and his nuclear defense forces for using riot control agents and chloropicrin on the battlefield.
The assassination is the latest in a string of high-profile targeted killings between Russia and Ukraine, with Moscow holding Kyiv responsible for several assassinations since the start of the war in February 2022. The incident has raised tensions between the two nations, with Ukraine calling it an act of terrorism.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/two-people-killed-explosion-moscow-russian-media-report-2024-12-17