A high-ranking Russian military officer has been killed in an explosion in Moscow, the country's Investigative Committee confirmed. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops (RKhBZ), and his assistant were found dead outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt, a major avenue in the Russian capital located southeast of the Kremlin. The explosion was reportedly caused by a bomb concealed inside a scooter parked near the entrance of the building.

The incident occurred on December 17, just one day after Ukraine’s SBU security service announced that Ukrainian prosecutors had filed charges against Kirillov. He was accused of overseeing the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops during Russia's ongoing invasion. According to the SBU, Russian forces used chemical weapons nearly 5,000 times in the conflict under Kirillov's leadership.

Pictures published on Russian Telegram channels, including Astra, showed two bodies lying in the snow near a damaged building entrance. Astra also reported that a car parked nearby belonged to Kirillov, reinforcing his presence at the site of the explosion. Russian investigators have launched a criminal probe into the blast.

Kirillov, who headed the RKhBZ since April 2017, had previously served in the Directorate of the Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops. His official biography credits him with contributions to the development of the TOS-2 "Tosochka" heavy flamethrower system and efforts in Russia’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The RKhBZ specializes in operations under nuclear, chemical, and biological contamination.

Kirillov and the RKhBZ forces were sanctioned in October by Britain, Canada, and New Zealand over allegations of chemical weapon use in Ukraine. The British government accused Kirillov of being "responsible for helping deploy these barbaric weapons," citing numerous reports of Russian forces using chloropicrin, a toxic choking agent, on the battlefield. The Kremlin has denied these accusations, calling them baseless.

The general, a graduate of the Kostroma Higher Military Command School of Chemical Defense, was also recently sentenced in absentia by Ukrainian authorities for his role in the alleged chemical attacks. No official comments regarding the explosion have been made by Ukrainian officials.

Sources:

• Radio Free Europe
• Euronews