A senior Russian military officer, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, was killed in a bombing in Moscow on Tuesday. Kirillov, the chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops, was leaving a residential building when an explosive device hidden in an electric scooter detonated, causing his death.
The blast occurred outside an apartment block on Ryazansky Prospekt, located about 7 kilometers southeast of the Kremlin. Along with Kirillov, his assistant also perished in the explosion. The Russian investigative committee confirmed the deaths and launched a criminal investigation into the incident. Photographs shared on Russian Telegram channels depicted the devastation, with a shattered building entrance and two bodies lying in the blood stained snow.
Russia: Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov in charge of Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defense Forces (NBC) in the Russian Armed Forces and his assistant assassinated in an explosion in Moscow on Ryazansky Prospect. pic.twitter.com/zIZIAvZjZO
— Aristotle (@goLoko77) December 17, 2024
Kirillov was responsible for overseeing Russia’s specialised forces in charge of radiation, chemical, and biological protection—known as RKhBZ. These troops are crucial in operating under extreme contamination conditions, including radioactive, chemical, and biological hazards.
Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian prosecutors accused Kirillov of allegedly using banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, with charges filed in absentia. The Ukrainian Security Service presented the allegations, although Russia has firmly denied the accusations.
Following the explosion, the area was cordoned off by authorities, and a criminal case was opened to investigate the incident. The circumstances surrounding the explosion and the motivations behind the attack remain unclear, and authorities are continuing their inquiry into the deadly blast.
