Ukraine claims killing of top Russian general as Moscow vows 'imminent revenge'

Ukrainian officials have claimed responsibility for the assassination of senior General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian army’s chemical weapons division.

A source within Ukraine's SBU security service revealed that the assassination of Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defense Forces (NBC), was executed as a "special operation" on Tuesday.

“The liquidation of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ radiation, chemical and biological defense troops is a special operation by the SBU,” the source said.

The high-profile killing occurred early Tuesday morning in Moscow when an improvised explosive device, cleverly concealed within a parked scooter, detonated near a residential building on Ryazansky Prospekt, approximately 7 kilometers from the Kremlin.

The Investigative Committee of Russia confirmed the devastating impact of the explosion, which took the lives of Kirillov and his assistant and shattered windows in a nearby building.

The committee announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the incident and detailed the nature of the blast, which was equivalent in power to around 200 grams of TNT.

According to reports from Russia's state news agency TASS, the explosive device was remotely operated.

'Imminent revenge'

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, warned on Tuesday that the Ukrainian leadership would soon face retribution for the assassination of the high-ranking Russian general.

“Realizing the inevitability of its military defeat, it launches cowardly and despicable strikes in peaceful cities,” he said.

Moreover, Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, expressed his shock and sorrow over the incident, labeling the loss “irreparable” and vowing that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. He emphasized the necessity of punishing the "murderers" without mercy.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel praised Kirillov for dedicating years to uncovering evidence of crimes by NATO.

“He worked fearlessly. He didn’t hide behind anyone’s back. He met everything head-on,” she wrote.

Ukrainian sources, however, claimed that Kirillov had a role in the alleged deployment of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine.

His death comes a day after Ukrainian prosecutors charged him with the alleged use of banned chemical weapons in the Ukraine war.

The Kremlin called accusations of using chloropicrin "baseless."

The general had faced sanctions from countries like the UK, Canada, and New Zealand prior to his death.

The assassination of Kirillov has intensified the already high-stakes conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Russia launched what it called a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 partly to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion after warning that the US-led military alliance was following an “aggressive line” against Moscow.

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