File photo: Lt Gen Igor Kirillov
Ukraine officials have claimed responsibility for the killing of the head of Russia’s radiological, chemical and biological defence troop, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov.
Kirillov and one of his assistants were killed on Tuesday morning when a bomb went off in front of his apartment in Moscow.
It was learnt that the explosion was caused by a remotely triggered bomb planted in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow.
The high-ranking Russian official had been under sanction from major Western countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, for his role in the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine
An Associate Press report said Kirillov’s death came amidst an investigation by the Ukraine Security Service, SBU, which accused him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons in the war.
“An official with the SBU said the agency was behind the attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, described Kirillov as a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target,” the AP News report added.
