Russian General Igor Kirillov, Head of Nuclear Defense Forces, Killed by Scooter Bomb in Moscow

Dec 17, 2024, 06:55 AM

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops, was killed around 6 AM on Tuesday morning in an explosion in Moscow, according to Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for Russia's Investigative Committee. The explosion occurred on Ryazansky Prospect when a device hidden in an electric scooter detonated as Kirillov and his assistant, identified as Ilya P., were leaving a residential building. Both men were killed in the blast, which also damaged the building's windows and doors. Residents reported that the scooter was parked near the building's entrance and exploded as the men exited. Kirillov is the most senior Russian officer to be assassinated since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian prosecutors had recently accused him of ordering the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces.