The lieutenant general Kirillov He was murdered while leaving his building accompanied by a assistant to go to his office. Both died in the attack that was carried out with a bomb which was attached to a electric skateboard and that it was detonated remotely. The attack was recorded on video.
LOOK: Who was Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine
Ukrainethrough its Security Service (SBU), the authorship of the murder was claimed, according to what a security source from that country declared to the AFP agency. He said it was a “legitimate objective” and described the soldier as “war criminal”.
The head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces (NBC), Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, attends a briefing on June 22, 2018. (EFE/EPA/SERGEI CHIRIKOV).
/
The bodies of the commander of the chemical, biological and radiological defense troops of the Russian armed forces, Igor Kirillov, (top) and his assistant are seen at the scene of the explosion outside a residential building. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP).
/
Kirillov54, was under sanctions from several countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada for his actions in the Russia’s war in Ukrainestarted in February 2022.
One day before his murder, SBU had opened a criminal investigation into Kirillovafter accusing him of direct the use of chemical weapons prohibited on Ukrainian territory.
This Wednesday, the Investigations Committee of Russia reported that the FSB arrested a suspect.
The Uzbek who was detained. (FSB).
“A citizen of Uzbekistan born in 1995, was arrested on suspicion of having committed the attack that claimed the life of the commander of the Russian radiological, chemical and biological defense forces, Igor Kirillovand his assistant, Ilya Polikarpov”the committee said in a statement.
During the interrogation, The suspect claimed to have been “recruited by Ukrainian special forces”according to the committee.
The statement added that the Uzbek arrived in Moscow at the request of the Ukrainianswho They gave him an explosive device that he placed on an electric scooter which was parked near the door of the building where the general lived Kirillov.
The skateboard used in the murder of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant. (EFE/EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV).
/
He I suspect He also rented a car that he parked near the building and where a surveillance cameraindicated AFP. The video recorded by the camera was retransmitted “in real time to the organizers of the attack.”to the city of Dnipro”, in the center of Ukrainethe researchers said.
When the general and his assistant left the building, the suspect activated the explosive device remotelyaccording to the statement.
The Uzbek was promised “a remuneration of $100,000” and the possibility of living “in a European country,” according to the researchers.
Possible retaliation
The scene of the explosion, which killed the commander of the chemical, biological and radiological defense troops of the Russian armed forces, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant in front of a residential building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP).
/
On Tuesday, the vice president of Russia, Dmitri Medvedevthreatened with a “punishment” to Ukraine for the assassination of the general Kirillov.
“A sure punishment wait for the banderist Nazisincluding the main military and political leaders of a country in ruins”Medvedev said in a message of condolences to the family and friends of Kirillov.
Medvedev described the action as a “terrorist attack” that “demonstrates the agony” of Ukraine.
In Russiathe influential military bloggers and information spaces ultranationalists they called Kremlin to take retaliation against Ukraine pointing to his political-military leadership instead of “launching 100 missiles at Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” said the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in an analysis of the situation.
What can be expected from retaliation? For Andrés Gómez de la Torrespecialist in Defense and Intelligence issues, Russia could opt for a combination of increasing massive bombings against Ukraine and targeted assassinations of Ukrainian military leaders.
“The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVRhad already set up a strong network of collaborators and informants who were infiltrated in the Ukrainian public apparatusand the proof is that Ukrainian counterintelligence had detected a large number of Ukrainian spies, collaborators and informants in the service of Russia. “So the SVR has demonstrated that it has capabilities over Ukrainian territory,” Gómez de la Torre said to The Commerce.
“There will undoubtedly be retaliation.. A retaliation is not ruled out from the conventional point of view, with classic bombings and, eventually, targeted killings. It would be necessary to see when Russia can begin to carry out actions similar to those carried out by the Ukrainians, which entail the “physical elimination of some military leaders of Ukraine, under the principle of proportionality”he added.
A Russian military blogger said that war is only eight hours away Moscow and warned that Russia remains vulnerable to Ukrainian agents working inside the country, according to the ISW.
Another Kremlin-affiliated military blogger noted that Kirillov’s assassination once again demonstrated that Ukrainian forces are capable of carrying out complex operations despite Russian advances on the war front.
The ISW said another military blogger claimed that Russia cannot win this war only by launching unguided aerial bombs and Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missiles to Ukraine, and that the country needs to destroy the Ukrainian military-political leadership.
The background
Vladlen Tatarsky had more than 500,000 followers on Telegram.
Gomez de la Torre He stressed that the intelligence services of Ukrainelike the SBUare particularly active and report directly to the president Volodymyr Zelensky. He recalled that they have carried out intrusive operations in Russia throughout the war.
One of those actions of SBU in Russian territory it cost the life of the influential military blogger Vladlen Tatarskywho was murdered in April 2023 when a bomb that was wrapped in a gift destroyed a cafe where he was located, located in the center of Saint Petersburg.
Tatarsky He was 40 years old, he supported the war in Ukraine and he used to send reports from the war front to his Telegram followers.
Another murder that had a great impact in Russia was that of Darya Duginadaughter of Alexander Duginphilosopher, writer and political theorist in favor of war in Ukraine and of the restoration of Russia’s power and the unity of all ethnic Russians. It is believed that the father was the real target of the attack.
Russian ideologist Alexander Dugin attends the farewell ceremony for his daughter Darya Dugina, who died in an attack in August 2022. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP).
/
Darya Dugina, 29, was killed in August 2022 when a remote-controlled bomb placed in her truck exploded while she was driving on the outskirts of Moscow.
Ukraine denied responsibility for the attack. But Russian intelligence publicly identified two suspects, both Ukrainian citizens.
“Definitely, The assassination of General Kirillov is a show of force by the Ukrainian Governmentin the sense that it can reach the heart of the Russian military apparatus. Also They want to show that the Russians do not have great counterintelligence. “They have been able to penetrate the heart of the military, the Russian capital, and have killed a high-ranking official.”said Gómez de la Torre.
“We must remember that on December 11, the engineer was also eliminated in Moscow. Mikhail Shatskyhighly specialized in Russian missiles and rockets, in such a way that we have two attacks in one week against what is called high value targetsand this represents an escalation in intrusive operations in Russian territory by the Ukrainian security forces”he remarked.
