According to AFP, the assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov in Moscow on December 17 was a "special operation" carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Kirillov, the military official who headed Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense (RChBD) forces, was targeted on Russian soil. He and his assistant were killed when a device mounted on a scooter exploded outside an apartment building in southeastern Moscow.
This apartment building is located just 7 km southeast of the Kremlin.
“The elimination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, commander of the chemical, biological and radiological defense forces of the Russian Army, was a special operation of the SBU,” a source inside the SBU said.
“Mr. Kirillov is a war criminal and a completely legitimate target, as he ordered the use of banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian army,” the source added.
In October, Mr Kirillov was sanctioned by Britain over his suspected use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The SBU confirmed that Mr Kirillov was killed when “a scooter rigged with explosives” exploded as he entered the building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Russian Investigative Committee considers the criminal case related to the bombing that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov a terrorist attack under Article 205 of the Criminal Code.
