Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed this morning after a device hidden in a scooter was detonated, according to the Russian TASS news agency, citing Moscow’s investigative committee.
The e-scooter, which Data and Forensics team has geolocated to the scene outside a residential building in Moscow, is from KugooKirin.
The brand was founded in China but has multiple overseas warehouses across Europe including in Russia. Russia is also one of its main exporting countries, according to the company’s website.
UKRAINE CLAIMS IT KILLED KIRILLOV – REPORTS
Ukraine’s security services (SBU) were responsible for the killing of Igor Kirillov, a source at the agency has told Reuters.
The source said Kyiv regarded Kirillov as a war criminal and an “absolutely legitimate target”.
The source accused him of ordering the use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces in the war.
Yesterday, the SBU charged Igor Kirillov in absentia for the use of banned chemical weapons during Russia’s invasion of the country.
Igor Kirillov had been the head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defence forces since 2017.
Here’s a look at what else we know about him:
The 54-year-old was born on 13 July 1970 in Kostroma, a riverside city in western Russia.
He went on to attend Kostroma Higher Military Command School of Chemical Defence, graduating in 2007.
During his time there, between 1991 and 1995, he served as a platoon commander in the Western Group of Forces in Germany and the Moscow Military District.
After graduating, he occupied various posts in Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defence forces, eventually becoming the chief there in 2017.
Throughout his military career, he was known for helping to develop the TOS-2 Tosochka heavy flamethrower system.
He has been accused of using banned chemical weapons during the war in Ukraine as well as the toxic choking agent chloropicrin.
The UK government had sanctioned him for “helping deploy these barbaric weapons” and for being a “significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation”.
The death of Igor Kirillov in Moscow will result in a “major retaliation” from Russia, says the former Tory MP and security analyst Tobias Ellwood.
He tells Sky News that this morning’s explosion, which “we can only assume” was carried out by Ukraine, will be embarrassing for Vladimir Putin.
“It’s a major event, the removal of a senior military officer responsible for nuclear weapons, not on the battlefield in Ukraine, but in Moscow, just miles from the Kremlin,” says Ellwood.
“This will be is an embarrassment for Putin.
“He cannot hide this from the Russian people who are generally not supportive of this war and I would expect a major retaliation on the Russian side.”
