The assassination of General Kirillov, head of Russia’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) forces, is yet another hammer blow to President Putin after his troops were unceremoniously kicked out of Syria last week. The killing is also an urgent wake-up call to the UK and Nato regarding the CBRN threat currently emanating from Russia and other rogue states – a threat we have done no more than pay lip service to since the end of the Cold War.
Kirillov had commanded Russia’s CBRN forces since 2017. Rather than being defensive in nature, as were the CBRN forces I commanded in the British Army, Kirillov’s command was and is involved in a broad spectrum of CBRN attacks.
The Novichok nerve agent used in the attempted assassination of double agent Sergei Skripal in March 2018 in Salisbury is likely to have been authorised and supplied by Kirillov’s forces. The Russian secret agents who made the attempt were also probably trained by them. Kirillov’s other role as one of Putin’s key mouthpieces and spreaders of propaganda also came to prominence after Salisbury with his frequent appearance on Russian media outlets trying to suggest the British secret services were responsible for the attack. More recently, he has accused the Ukrainian forces of making ‘dirty’ radiological bombs – an accusation with no foundation in fact.
Kirillov was also a prominent figure in Syria and was no doubt aware if not directly involved in the extensive use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, which kept it in power for so long after it would otherwise have fallen.
Kirillov saw how effective chemical weapons were in Syria, most especially against securely dug in forces, and no doubt also knew the effect that chlorine gas had in WWI. First used in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres, it moved the front lines significantly. This knowledge most probably led Kirillov to make extensive use of chemical weapons on the frontlines in Ukraine. The Kyiv government, in fact, had just indicted him personally for around 5000 uses of Chloropicrin over the last 18 months, alongside other chemical attacks. From my own investigations into chemical weapons use, most especially in the Donbass, I believe this figure is close to the mark.
This decisive action against Kirillov and the organisation he controlled, apparently by the Ukrainian SBU secret service, stands in stark contrast to the lacklustre response by many British politicians to Assad’s use of chemical weapons in August 2013. Parliament voted against any British military action in response: Ed Miliband, then Leader of the Opposition and now energy secretary, still refuses to apologise for this. As a result neither the UK nor the US did anything and the tottering Assad regime carried on for another 11 years waging its merciless war against its own people.
I sympathise with the evident frustration of the Ukraine military and government that the war crime of chemical weapons use has been allowed to continue with barely a murmur from the international community. Most territorial gains, especially in the south and east, have been possible for the Russian forces because they use chemical weapons. Most urgently Ukrainian soldiers need good quality gas masks in order to mitigate this threat. As the UK is the largest and best quality manufacturer of gas masks on the planet, this challenge cannot be beyond us to solve, and gas masks are not expensive compared to other military equipment.
General Kirillov was a truly evil man, who had enabled crimes against humanity across the globe. His passing is a huge blow to Putin, already on the back foot after the Syrian debacle. Now it’s clear that the dictator cannot even protect his most trusted henchmen, those willing to do his dirtiest work – not even within Moscow itself.
If this brings about the downfall of Putin, or even improves the prospects of a ceasefire acceptable to the Ukrainians and an end to the “Special Military Operation”, I for one will applaud the action of the SBU.
This is also a much-needed warning to the UK and Nato: that tyrants, dictators and rogue states see CBRN as the weapons of choice, because they are so effective and because they also terrorise – they strike fear into populations and opponents. If you have no morals or scruples you would use them all the time. The best way to prevent, or at least mitigate, their use is to have effective force protection measures. At the moment most Nato countries, including ourselves, would be found wanting in this regard.
First things first, however: for now, we must get gas masks to Ukraine.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a former British Army officer. He served as Commanding Officer of the UK CBRN Regiment and Nato’s Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion
The assassination of General Kirillov, head of Russia’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) forces, is yet another hammer blow to President Putin after his troops were unceremoniously kicked out of Syria last week. The killing is also an urgent wake-up call to the UK and Nato regarding the CBRN threat currently emanating from Russia and other rogue states – a threat we have done no more than pay lip service to since the end of the Cold War.
Kirillov had commanded Russia’s CBRN forces since 2017. Rather than being defensive in nature, as were the CBRN forces I commanded in the British Army, Kirillov’s command was and is involved in a broad spectrum of CBRN attacks.
The Novichok nerve agent used in the attempted assassination of double agent Sergei Skripal in March 2018 in Salisbury is likely to have been authorised and supplied by Kirillov’s forces. The Russian secret agents who made the attempt were also probably trained by them. Kirillov’s other role as one of Putin’s key mouthpieces and spreaders of propaganda also came to prominence after Salisbury with his frequent appearance on Russian media outlets trying to suggest the British secret services were responsible for the attack. More recently, he has accused the Ukrainian forces of making ‘dirty’ radiological bombs – an accusation with no foundation in fact.
Kirillov was also a prominent figure in Syria and was no doubt aware if not directly involved in the extensive use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, which kept it in power for so long after it would otherwise have fallen.
Kirillov saw how effective chemical weapons were in Syria, most especially against securely dug in forces, and no doubt also knew the effect that chlorine gas had in WWI. First used in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres, it moved the front lines significantly. This knowledge most probably led Kirillov to make extensive use of chemical weapons on the frontlines in Ukraine. The Kyiv government, in fact, had just indicted him personally for around 5000 uses of Chloropicrin over the last 18 months, alongside other chemical attacks. From my own investigations into chemical weapons use, most especially in the Donbass, I believe this figure is close to the mark.
This decisive action against Kirillov and the organisation he controlled, apparently by the Ukrainian SBU secret service, stands in stark contrast to the lacklustre response by many British politicians to Assad’s use of chemical weapons in August 2013. Parliament voted against any British military action in response: Ed Miliband, then Leader of the Opposition and now energy secretary, still refuses to apologise for this. As a result neither the UK nor the US did anything and the tottering Assad regime carried on for another 11 years waging its merciless war against its own people.
I sympathise with the evident frustration of the Ukraine military and government that the war crime of chemical weapons use has been allowed to continue with barely a murmur from the international community. Most territorial gains, especially in the south and east, have been possible for the Russian forces because they use chemical weapons. Most urgently Ukrainian soldiers need good quality gas masks in order to mitigate this threat. As the UK is the largest and best quality manufacturer of gas masks on the planet, this challenge cannot be beyond us to solve, and gas masks are not expensive compared to other military equipment.
General Kirillov was a truly evil man, who had enabled crimes against humanity across the globe. His passing is a huge blow to Putin, already on the back foot after the Syrian debacle. Now it’s clear that the dictator cannot even protect his most trusted henchmen, those willing to do his dirtiest work – not even within Moscow itself.
If this brings about the downfall of Putin, or even improves the prospects of a ceasefire acceptable to the Ukrainians and an end to the “Special Military Operation”, I for one will applaud the action of the SBU.
This is also a much-needed warning to the UK and Nato: that tyrants, dictators and rogue states see CBRN as the weapons of choice, because they are so effective and because they also terrorise – they strike fear into populations and opponents. If you have no morals or scruples you would use them all the time. The best way to prevent, or at least mitigate, their use is to have effective force protection measures. At the moment most Nato countries, including ourselves, would be found wanting in this regard.
First things first, however: for now, we must get gas masks to Ukraine.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a former British Army officer. He served as Commanding Officer of the UK CBRN Regiment and Nato’s Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion