- Igor Kirillov was sentenced by Kyiv’s security service yesterday for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine – and had been sanctioned by the UK
- According to Svetlana Petrenko, the Committee’s Moscow department has launched a criminal probe into the attack
Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in a blast in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday morning.
The blast was caused by an explosive device that had been planted in an electric scooter, Spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said.
“On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter went off near a residential building entrance on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, the investigation showed. Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in the explosion,” she said.
According to Petrenko, the Committee’s Moscow department has launched a criminal probe into the attack. Circumstances behind the crime are currently being investigated.
Criminal investigation
– The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the attack.
– A manhunt for the perpetrator is currently underway.
– Bomb experts are working at the scene.
– The area around the blast site has been cordoned off.
– Senior officials from the Russian Interior Ministry’s Moscow department have arrived, along with investigators, medical personnel, and emergency services.
– Law enforcement estimates the explosive device had a capacity of about 300 grams of TNT equivalent.
Who was Igor Kirillov?
– Kirillov was born in Kostroma on July 13, 1970.
– He graduated from the Kostroma Higher Military Command School of Chemical Defense in 1991 and the Marshal Semyon Timoshenko NBC Protection Military Academy in 2007.
– Kirillov had served as Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops since April 2017.
Charges brought by Ukraine
– Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has filed charges in absentia against Kirillov, the agency said on its Telegram channel.
– The SBU alleges Kirillov was “responsible for the widespread use of prohibited chemical weapons” in Ukraine. Additionally, Kiev accuses the senior general of military crimes.
Moscow’s response
– Kirillov worked for years to “present evidence exposing crimes committed by the Anglo-Saxons and NATO,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.
Meanwhile, the explosive device that went off in a residential neighborhood in southeastern Moscow where a senior general in charge of Russia’s NBC protection troops was killed this morning had a capacity of some 300 grams in TNT equivalent, a law enforcement official told TASS.
“The improvised explosive device had a capacity of some 300 grams in TNT equivalent,” he said.
Specialists have removed components of the explosive device from the site of the blast.
Bomb experts and detector dog handlers have inspected the surrounding area. No other explosives have been detected, according to preliminary information.
Ukraine’s intelligence service said that Kirillov was responsible for “the massive use of banned chemical weapons” against the Ukrainian military.
The UK placed sanctions on him in October, saying he was responsible for deploying chemical weapons in Ukraine and was a “significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation.”
@TASS