Ukraine claims it’s behind Moscow blast that killed head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces

Moscow — The head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy early Tuesday in an explosion in Moscow, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Ukrainian security sources told CBS News the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) killed Kirillov in a special operation. The claim couldn’t be independently verified.

The sources said a scooter with explosives was detonated as Kirillov and his assistant were entering an apartment building.

“Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, since he gave orders to use prohibited chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military,” an informed source in the SBU asserted to CBS News. “Such an inglorious end awaits everyone who kills Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable.”

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The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said Ukraine’s leaders would face imminent revenge for the killing, the RIA news agency reported, according to Reuters.

The bomb was triggered remotely and had the power equivalent to roughly 300 grams of TNT, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services.

“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. “Investigative and search activities are being carried out to establish all the circumstances around this crime.”

She also said the Kremlin was treating it as a terrorist attack.

The committee carries out major investigations in Russia.

Kirillov was under sanctions from several countries including the U.K. and Canada for his role in Ukraine.

Kirillov was sentenced in absentia by a Ukrainian court on Dec. 16 for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine during Russia’s military operation in Ukraine that started in Feb. 2022.

The SBU has said it has recorded more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons on the battlefield since February 2022, particularly K-1 combat grenades.

During the almost 3-year operation, Russia has made small but steady adds to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls.

Kirillov had been in his post since April 2017, AFP notes.

contributed to this report.