Moscow — The head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy on Tuesday morning in an explosion in Moscow, the Russian Investigative Committee announced.
Ukrainian security sources told CBS News that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) killed Kirillov during a special operation. This claim could not be independently verified.
Agence France-Presse reports that Russian investigators said an explosive device hidden in an electronic scooter detonated outside a residential building as the two men left the structure.
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The bomb was detonated remotely and had a power equivalent to around 300 grams of TNT, Russia’s official Tass news agency reported, citing unnamed emergency service sources.
“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working on site,” committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. “Investigation and search activities are underway to establish all the circumstances of this crime.”
She also said the Kremlin considered this a terrorist attack.
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The committee is conducting extensive investigations in Russia.
Kirillov was under sanctions from several countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, for his role in Ukraine.
Kirillov was convicted in absentia by a Ukrainian court on December 16 for using chemical weapons banned in Ukraine during Russian military operation in Ukraine it started in February 2022.
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The SBU said it has recorded more than 4,800 battlefield uses of chemical weapons since February 2022, including K-1 combat grenades.
During the nearly three-year operation, Russia made small but steady additions to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls.
Kirillov had held his position since April 2017, notes AFP.