A top Russian general, accused by Ukraine of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers, was assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine's SBU intelligence service on Tuesday morning. 

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who led Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter exploded outside an apartment building, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, which looks into serious crimes. According to an SBU source, the hit was carried out by the Ukrainian intelligence service. “The liquidation of the chief of the radiation and chemical protection troops of the Russian Federation is the work of the SBU,” the source said. A scooter with explosives was detonated, killing both Kirillov, 54 and his aide when they were about to enter a house on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow.

Kirillov, the highest-ranking Russian military officer to be killed inside Russia by Ukraine, is likely to lead the Russian authorities to reconsider the security measures for top military officials and seek revenge for his death. Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and now a senior Russian security official, said that Ukraine’s military and political leaders will face immediate retaliation for Kirillov’s assassination. Moscow accuses Ukraine of carrying out a series of high-profile killings on its territory in an effort to depress morale and punish individuals it believes have committed war crimes. Ukraine, which claims that Russia's war against it threatens the Ukrainian state, has made it plain that it views these targeted assassinations as a valid tactic.

Reuters photos and video from the scene showed a damaged entrance to an apartment building, with bricks blackened from the bomb and doors hanging off their hinges. Two bodies were seen covered with black plastic sheets on the snow. Investigators stated they had started a criminal case for the murder of two servicemen. Law enforcement sources told Russian media that a terrorism case was likely to be opened. Russia has rejected Ukraine's claims that it used chemical weapons during the conflict. Kirillov, who was married with two sons, was occasionally featured on Russian state TV where he gave briefings for the Defence Ministry, accusing Ukraine of violating nuclear safety rules and the West of various alleged crimes.

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, praised Kirillov for his "fearless" work in exposing what she called the West's crimes related to chemical weapons, as well as cover-ups in Syria and other places, which Moscow claims. The deployment of riot control agents and several allegations of the poisonous choking toxin chloropicrin on the battlefield led to Britain imposing sanctions on Kirillov and his nuclear defence forces in October. Ukraine claims that these operatives are employed to confuse its soldiers, rendering them unable to defend themselves against Russian assaults. Kirillov was killed a day after Ukrainian state prosecutors charged him in absentia for allegedly using banned chemical weapons, according to a report from the Kyiv Independent, citing the SBU.

The Lieutenant General was also listed in an unofficial Ukrainian database called Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), which tracks individuals considered enemies of Ukraine. On Tuesday morning, his photo on the website was marked with the word “Liquidated” in red letters. The most well-known cases are the 2022 car bombing death of Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin; the 2023 cafe bombing death of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky; and the shooting last year of a Russian submarine commander who Kyiv says committed war crimes.

Russia claims that Ukraine has been carrying out targeted assassinations within its territory since the full-scale war began in February 2022. Russia's RKhBZ troops, led by Kirillov, are special forces trained to operate in areas contaminated with radiation, chemicals, and biological agents. Their main job is to protect ground forces working in these hazardous conditions.