Kyiv behind killing of Russian general in Moscow, Ukrainian official says

KYIV, Ukraine – A high-ranking Russian military official was killed Tuesday morning in Moscow when an explosive device attached to a scooter detonated as he exited a residential building – a brazen bombing claimed by Ukraine’s security service as both Kyiv and Moscow have intensified attacks ahead of potential peace talks.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defense forces, is the highest-ranking Russian military official to be killed outside combat since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic security service, was responsible for the “special operation,” according to an agency official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Though Ukraine’s security services have taken responsibility for bombings far behind enemy lines, Tuesday’s bombing raises questions about the security of even senior officials in Russia’s capital. Video of the explosion captured by someone waiting in a nearby parked car was widely circulated across social media within hours. The timing appeared purposeful. A day earlier, the SBU charged Kirillov in absentia for his role in directing the use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces, an accusation Kyiv had leveled against him.

Nearly three years into the war, the fighting has intensified as both sides jockey for leverage in possible negotiations after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to broker an end to the war. Moscow has increased its nightly aerial bombardment of Ukraine, targeting the country’s energy infrastructure. Russian forces have also made advances along the front line, getting closer to occupying the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk while also deploying North Korean troops to fight the Ukrainian troops stationed in Russia’s Kursk region.

Russian investigators said the killing is being investigated as a suspected “terrorist act” and fragments of an explosive device were collected from the scene. Kirillov’s assistant was also killed.

The SBU official said Tuesday that Kirillov, 54, was an “absolutely legitimate target since he gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military.” Ukrainian authorities said Monday that on Kirillov’s orders, such weapons had been used more than 4,800 times on the southern and eastern fronts of Ukraine since the invasion began, resulting in injuries to Kyiv’s troops.

In May, the State Department imposed sanctions on Kirillov’s unit after determining that Russia used chloropicrin, a choking agent, against Ukrainian troops, in violation of Moscow’s commitments under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

Asked whether the U.S. government had any involvement in the killing, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a news conference Tuesday, “I can tell you that we were not aware of this operation in advance. We do not support or enable those kinds of activities.” Ryder referred additional questions to the Ukrainian government.

The blast came a week after the reported death, also in Moscow, of a top Russian cruise missile engineer who helped develop missiles used in the war in Ukraine.

With Ukraine’s soldiers struggling to hold off Russia’s front-line assaults, Kyiv has managed to claim successes deep into Russia, including drone strikes on oil facilities and military production sites.

Ukraine’s intelligence services – including the country’s main military intelligence agency, the GUR – have killed dozens of Russian officials, alleged Ukrainian collaborators, military officers and prominent activists, according to Washington Post reporting. In some instances, Kyiv initially declined to claim responsibility for the clandestine operations. But Tuesday’s bombing appeared intended for broadcast.

Ukrainian officials are searching for ways to persuade Trump to continue U.S. support for Kyiv, hoping to show him that the country is not a charity case but rather holds numerous economic and geostrategic opportunities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signaled a willingness to entertain negotiations to end the war, but Kyiv has asked Washington for security guarantees, such as an invitation to the NATO military alliance, in exchange.

U.S. officials have so far reacted coolly to the request.

The killing of a top Russian general appeared designed to strike fear among Russian military officials and members of the security forces.

Russia’s permanent mission to the United Nations announced that it would raise the issue of Kirillov’s killing at Friday’s Security Council meeting. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, threatened “imminent retribution” against Ukrainian leaders.

“Attempts to intimidate our people, to stop the Russian army’s offensive, to sow fear are doomed,” he said.

Pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov said Ukraine is now using digital services, in this case a ride-share scooter, to attack Russians in Moscow.

“That is, digital services have become an ideal space for a conveyor belt of terrorist attacks,” he wrote on Telegram. He blamed the United States for the attack, calling it an effort to provoke Russia.

Nationalist military blogger Alexander Kots said Russian threats of revenge for Kyiv’s attacks were not working and listed the names of 10 top Ukrainian commanders who he said should be killed in revenge attacks.

“Promises of retaliation don’t scare anyone. Threats don’t work. What works is inevitability. The realization that you’re next. That they’re coming for you,” he wrote on Telegram.

“And this job doesn’t need announcements from high places. And it doesn’t need commentary when it’s done. Retribution isn’t one hundred missiles hitting energy facilities. Retribution is specific positions and names.”

Kirillov had played a prominent role in spreading the Kremlin’s misleading claims that the United States had established biowarfare labs in Ukraine – claims that were repeated Tuesday by top-ranking officials in tributes to the general.

Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Defense Committee in the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said Kirillov highlighted U.S. “activities in organizing laboratories around the world.”

The Post has previously documented that the labs in Ukraine were biological research facilities focused on better detecting, diagnosing and monitoring infectious-disease outbreaks.

In October, Britain placed sanctions on Kirillov for his role in helping to deploy chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. “Kirillov has also been a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behavior,” the British government said in a statement at the time.

Senior naval officer Valery Trankovsky was previously the highest-ranking Russian military official to be killed outside combat since the war in Ukraine began. He was killed last month in a car explosion in Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea.