A camera used to blow up Russian nuclear chief Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov was installed on an electric scooter which was within view of his apartment building door
Moscow: Moment top Russian general is killed in explosion
This is the dramatic moment a blast kills Vladimir Putin’s top nuclear general – as Ukraine claimed responsibility for the killing.
Lt-Gen Igor Kirillov, 54, head of Putin’s Chemical and Biological Defence Forces, and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov, 33, emerged from the glass door of his apartment block in Moscow when an electric scooter nearby exploded in a huge blast. A camera used to blow up Kirillov was installed in a car sharing vehicle, parked with a view of his apartment building door.
The lens was pointed at the entrance and wrapped in a cloth so the equipment would not be conspicuous. The bomber could watch the scene over the internet and trigger the explosion remotely, say law enforcement. Investigators pulled out two packages from the car, likely a camera and charger.
Sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service have said he was a legitimate target, and had committed war crimes by masterminding the use of chemical weapons against Kyiv’s troops.
The SBU said Kirillov was “responsible for the mass use of prohibited chemical weapons by Russian militants against the Defence Forces on the eastern and southern fronts of Ukraine”. It added: “On Kirillov’s orders, more than 4,800 cases of the enemy using chemical munitions have been recorded since the beginning of the full-scale war.”
The UK will not mourn the death of Igor Kirillov, the Russian general reportedly killed in a Ukrainian operation in Moscow, Downing Street said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Clearly we are not going to mourn the death of an individual who has propagated an illegal invasion and imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people.
“We have always been clear that Ukraine has the right to self-defence against Russia’s illegal war. As the Prime Minister said just yesterday, Russia could put an end to this conflict today. It is Russian aggression that is causing this conflict and the ongoing suffering of the Ukrainian people.”
Russia has denied using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and, in turn, has accused Kyiv of using toxic agents in combat. Kirillov, who took his current job in 2017, was one of the most high-profile figures to level those accusations. He held numerous briefings to accuse the Ukrainian military of using toxic agents and planning to launch attacks with radioactive substances — claims that Ukraine and its Western allies rejected as propaganda.
The bomb used in Tuesday’s attack was triggered remotely, according to Russian news reports. Images from the scene showed shattered windows and scorched brickwork.
