The head of the Russian army's chemical weapons division was killed on Tuesday when an explosive device attached to a scooter went off outside an apartment building in Moscow, officials said.Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the military's chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit, was killed along with his assistant when the blast went off as the two men left a building in a residential area in southeastern Moscow early in the morning on Tuesday.Kirillov, who was in October sanctioned by Britain over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, is the most senior Russian military official to be killed in such a blast in Moscow since the start of the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.Russia's Investigative Committee said that Kirillov was killed after "an explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance of a residential building was activated on the morning of December 17 on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow."The blast shattered several windows of the building and severely damaged the front door, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.An anonymous source in Ukraine's SBU security agency later told AFP that the killing of Kirillov was a "special operation" carried out by the agency."Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, as he gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military," the source said.Kirillov, who had been in his post since 2017, oversaw the Russian military's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense unit.On Monday, he was charged in absentia by Ukrainian authorities over alleged war crimes following an investigation by the SBU.In October, the U.K.
government sanctioned Kirillov and his unit over allegations that they deployed chemical weapons in Ukraine, charges that Moscow denied.Britain and the United States have accused Russia of using the toxic agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).Chloropicrin is an oily liquid with a pungent odor known as a choking agent widely used during World War I as tear gas.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) specifically prohibits its use.Russia has said it no longer possesses a military chemical arsenal but the country faces pressure for more transparency over the alleged use of toxic weapons.In June, Ukraine accused Russia of increasing frontline attacks using prohibited hazardous chemicals and had registered more than 700 cases of their use the previous month.Tuesday's blast came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his troops had the upper hand across the front line in Ukraine.In recent months, Russia's army has advanced across eastern Ukraine at its fastest pace since the first weeks of the offensive, which Moscow launched in February 2022.Both Moscow and Kyiv are seeking to improve their position on the battlefield before United States President-elect Donald Trump comes to power in January.
Trump has vowed to end the conflict.