Ukraine claimed credit Tuesday for the assassination of a senior Russian general on a Moscow street with the remote detonation of a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces, was killed as he left for his office, as was Kirillov’s assistant.
In his current job since 2017, Kirillov has been one of the most high-profile figures to level accusations against Kyiv.
Russia’s top state investigative agency said it’s looking into Kirillov’s death as a case of terrorism, and officials in Moscow vowed to punish Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, described the attack as an attempt by Kyiv to distract public attention from its military failures and vowed that Ukraine’s “senior military-political leadership will face inevitable retribution.”
Several countries, including Britain and Canada, had sanctioned Kirillov, 54, for his actions in Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened a criminal investigation against him, accusing him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons.
The official described Kirillov as a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target.”
