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A senior Russian general was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine’s security agency filed criminal charges against him.
A Ukrainian official said the attack was carried out by the country’s security services. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the military forces for nuclear, biological and chemical protection, was killed on his way to his office.
Kirillov’s aide was also killed in the bombing, which was triggered remotely, according to Russian media reports. Pictures from the scene showed broken windows and burnt and blackened brick.
Kirilov (54) was under sanctions from several countries, including the United Kingdom and Canadafor his actions in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. On Monday, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened a criminal investigation against him, accusing him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons.
An SBU official said the agency was behind the attack. A similar claim was made by an SBU official to the Reuters news agency.
An SBU official provided a video of what they said was a bombing. It shows the two men leaving the building shortly before an explosion fills the frame.
The SBU said it had recorded more than 4,800 occasions when Russia used chemical weapons on the battlefield since its invasion in February 2022. In May, the US State Department said in a statement that it had recorded the use of chloropicrin, a poison gas first used in World War I. , against Ukrainian troops.
Russia has denied using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and in turn has accused Kiev of using toxic agents in combat.
Russia promises instant revenge
Kirilov, who took his current job in 2017, was one of the most prominent people to make the allegations. He has held numerous briefings to accuse Ukraine’s military of using toxic agents and planning to launch a radioactive attack – claims that Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed as propaganda.
Russia said it was investigating Kirilov’s death as a case of terrorism.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s leadership would face immediate revenge for the killing, the RIA news agency reported, accusing Ukraine of “cowardly and despicable attacks”.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, several prominent figures have been killed in targeted attacks.
Darja Dugina, a commentator on Russian TV channels and the daughter of the nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin connected to the Kremlin, has died. in car bomb explosion 2022 which investigators suspected was aimed at her father.
Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger, died in St. Petersburg in April 2023. when the statuette they gave him at the party exploded. In the case, a Russian woman was convicted who said that she had given the figurine as a gift at the behest of a contact in Ukraine and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
In December 2023, Illia Kiva, a former pro-Moscow Ukrainian MP who fled to Russia, was shot and killed near Moscow. Ukraine’s military intelligence service praised the killing, warning that other “traitors of Ukraine” would share the same fate.
Russia’s central bank is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate to 23 percent this month, with military spending consuming a third of Russia’s total budget. Andrew Chang explains how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine is causing inflation to skyrocket and what it means for civilians.
On the battlefield, RIA reported that Russian forces have taken control of the village of Hannivka in eastern Ukraine. Reuters could not independently verify the report from the battlefield.
Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday it had shot down 20 drones launched by Russia.
On the Telegram messenger, it is stated that Russia launched a total of 31 drones, and an additional 10 did not reach their targets. One was still in the air.
