Russian chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow explosion

Igor Kirillov, a general who headed Russia’s radiological, biological, and chemical protection forces, has been killed in a bomb explosion.

Russian authorities said Kirillov was killed outside an apartment building, along with his assistant, when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off on Tuesday.

Ukraine had declared the Russian general wanted for using chemical weapons in the ongoing two-year-old war.

The United Kingdom and United States had sanctioned Russia for using chloropicrin, an irritant that affects the eyes, skin, throat, and lungs, and was manufactured for use as a tear gas in World War I.

In October, the UK sanctioned Kirillov for using the weapons on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Citing a source in Ukraine’s intelligence agency, Reuters reported that Ukraine was behind the attack.

The explosion also comes a day after Ukrainian prosecutors charged the general in absentia for the use of banned chemical substances.

The attack appears to be the most ambitious targeted attack associated with the war on Russian soil. It also raises questions about the strength of Russia’s beefed-up internal security system.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Security Council deputy chairman, threatened that Kyiv would “pay dearly” for the general’s death.