Ukraine claims to be behind Moscow explosion that killed head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces

The head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy early Tuesday in an explosion in Moscow, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. Ukrainian security sources told CBS News that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) killed Kirillov in a special operation. The claim could not be independently verified.

Sources said a scooter laced with explosives was detonated as Kirillov and his assistant entered an apartment building.

“Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, as he gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military,” an informed SBU source told CBS News. “Such a shameful end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable.”

Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine’s leaders would face imminent revenge for the assassination, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

The bomb was activated remotely and had a power equivalent to about 300 grams of TNT, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing anonymous emergency services sources.

“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for Russia’s National Investigative Committee, said in a statement. “Investigative and search activities are underway to establish all the circumstances surrounding this crime.”

He also said the Kremlin was treating it as a terrorist attack.

Kirillov and the unit he headed have been sanctioned by several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, for the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s SBU has said it has recorded more than 4,800 occasions in which Russia used chemical weapons on the battlefield since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022. In May, the US State Department . sanctions announced against Kirillov’s unit, saying that the United States had recorded the use of chloropicrin, a poisonous gas first used in World War I, against Ukrainian troops.

Kirillov had held his position since April 2017, notes AFP.

Russia has denied using chemical weapons in Ukraine and has accused kyiv of using toxic agents in combat.

Kirillov was sentenced in absentia by a Ukrainian court on December 16 for the use of chemical weapons banned in Ukraine during The Russian military operation in Ukraine which began in February 2022.

Nearly three years into Russia’s war against Ukraine, Russian troops have made small but steady gains, adding to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine they already control.

Emmet Lyons contributed to this report.