Igor Kirillov: That was the general who died in the e-scooter attack

A bomb in an electric scooter became a fatal trap for Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov: The high-ranking Russian general and one of his assistants died in an explosion on a main road in the middle of Moscow on Tuesday morning. The Ukrainian secret service SBU is said to be responsible for the targeted attack. Russia classifies the crime as a murder and terrorist attack. Ukrainian intelligence circles spoke of a special operation. Kirillov was a war criminal and “a perfectly legitimate target because he gave the order to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military.”

For Ukraine it is a spectacular military success, for Russia it is an equally great humiliation. Because Kirillov wasn’t just anyone. The 54-year-old commanded the Russian nuclear, biological and chemical weapons protection forces and was a prominent public face of the armed forces. Kirillov is considered the highest-ranking Russian military man killed on Russian soil since the attack on Ukraine in 2022.

Kirillov’s troops are primarily responsible for protecting against threats from attacks with NBC weapons. However, the general was accused of being responsible for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine. Great Britain therefore imposed sanctions on him in October. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office only confirmed the war crimes allegations against Kirillov on Monday and filed charges. The Ukrainian secret service said that more than 4,800 Russian missions with chemical ammunition in Ukraine had been documented. Russia denies the allegations.

Kirillov, on the other hand, has repeatedly gone public with allegations against the Ukrainian military. He repeatedly claimed that Kiev was working on building a dirty bomb, i.e. a conventional weapon that would become a weapon of mass destruction by adding radioactive substances. His statements that the USA was operating secret bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine also caused a stir. Western countries have repeatedly rejected Kirillov’s statements as unsubstantiated. The British Foreign Office described him as a “significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation,” according to the BBC.

Kirillov was born on July 13, 1970 in the Russian city of Kostroma, about 300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. He joined the Soviet army at a young age and pursued a military career. He has been head of the Russian NBC protection troops since 2017. Kirillov was married and leaves two sons.

Sources: DPA / AFP / Reuters / /