SVE NEWS & FRANCE24.COM Sharing Series — Ukraine claims killing of senior Russian military official in Moscow

Ukraine’s security service killed Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov in a special operation in Moscow on Tuesday, a source inside the agency said. Kirillov was the commander of Russian armed forces’ chemical, biological and radiation defence troops and was sanctioned in October by Britain over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

File photo: In this grab from a handout footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on October 24, 2022, Russia's Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, in charge of Russian troops for radioactive, chemical and biological protection, speaks at a briefing in Moscow.File photo: In this grab from a handout footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on October 24, 2022, Russia’s Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, in charge of Russian troops for radioactive, chemical and biological protection, speaks at a briefing in Moscow. © AFP

The killing of a senior Russian military official, Igor Kirillov, in Moscow on Tuesday was a “special operation” by Ukraine‘s SBU security service, a source inside the agency told AFP.

Kirillov is the most senior Russian army official to be targeted on Russian territory, killed with his assistant when an explosive device attached to a scooter went off outside an apartment building in south-eastern Moscow.

“The liquidation of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ radiation, chemical and biological defence troops is a special operation by the SBU,” the source said.

“Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, as he gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military,” it said.

Kirillov was on Monday charged in absentia by Ukrainian authorities over alleged war crimes following an investigation by the SBU.

In October, he had been sanctioned by the UK over the suspected use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

“Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable,” the SBU source said.

It confirmed Kirillov was killed when “a scooter with explosives” detonated as he entered the building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow.

(AFP)

Sources from: APNEWS.COM 

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