A Russian general in charge of chemical warfare forces was killed by an explosive device in Moscow on 17 December, Russia’s Investigative Committee and multiple other sources reported.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection forces, and his assistant died when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter detonated outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt avenue, approximately 7 km southeast of the Kremlin.

The Russian Telegram channel Shot says, citing operational services, the explosive device contained about 300 grams of TNT and was detonated remotely.

“At first we thought that cement might have been unloaded or something similar. But the blast was so loud that it did not seem like construction works. It was very scary,” a local resident told Reuters.

The explosion occurred around 6:10 local time, shortly before Kirillov’s Toyota Camry service vehicle was due to pick him up for work, Russia’s state-funded TASS news agency reported. The blast shattered windows from the first to third floors and damaged entrance doors.

Kirillov, 54, was the chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces since May 2017. He was involved in developing and adopting the thermobaric multiple-rocket launcher TOS-2 Tosochka for the Russian army, according to Ukrinform. Lieutenant General Kirillov’s name has been added to the sanctions lists.

Britain had sanctioned Kirillov in October for what the UK Foreign Office called the “abhorrent use of inhumane chemical weapons” in Ukraine. The office accused him of being “a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation” and “spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behavior.”

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and the Defense Ministry’s HUR have been actively targeting Russian officers implicated in war crimes and collaborators in Russian-occupied areas. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, multiple reports have documented successful operations by Ukrainian partisans and alleged intelligence units, including the assassinations of high-ranking military officials and key collaborators.

The Ukrainian agencies did not comment on the incident at the time of the reporting.

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