Ukraine’s hitman kills Russian chemical weapons leader in Moscow

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Russia announced the arrest of an Uzbek national who admitted to assassinating a senior military general, Igor Kirillov, in a Moscow bombing on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence services.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, claimed the lives of both Kirillov, who led Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, and his assistant when an explosive device concealed in an electric scooter detonated outside his residence.

This assassination marks the highest-ranking Russian military official killed within Russia by Ukrainian operatives.

‼️BREAKING:

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🇷🇺⚡Uzbek citizen, Ahmad Kurbanov has been apprehended as the terrorist behind the recent bombing which kiIIed Lt. General, Igor Kirillov and his deputy.

The terrorist says he was contacted by Ukraine's SBU and offered $100,000 & a free citizenship to any EU state. pic.twitter.com/jPDB9dKwhF

— Spetsnaℤ 007 🇷🇺 (@Alex_Oloyede2) December 18, 2024

Following the attack, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service claimed responsibility, citing allegations that Kirillov had authorized chemical weapon attacks against Ukrainian forces – an accusation Moscow continues to reject.

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the detained suspect acknowledged traveling to Moscow to execute an operation for Ukrainian intelligence. The news outlet Baza released footage showing the suspect in a van describing his involvement, though the circumstances of the recorded confession remain unclear and its authenticity unconfirmed.

In the video, the suspect, wearing winter attire, details receiving orders from Ukrainian intelligence, purchasing an electric scooter, and obtaining an explosive device. He explains positioning the device on the scooter near Kirillov’s residential building.

Investigators report that the suspect established surveillance from a rental vehicle, with coordinators in Ukraine’s Dnipro city monitoring the operation. The suspect, believed to be born in 1995, claims he triggered the explosion remotely when Kirillov exited the building, allegedly promised $100,000 and European residency for the operation.

The investigation continues as authorities work to identify other participants, with Kommersant newspaper reporting a second arrest, though this remains unverified.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced plans to address the assassination at an upcoming UN Security Council session on December 20. She emphasized Russia’s determination to pursue all responsible parties, maintaining that these actions wouldn’t intimidate Moscow.

“We see that the Kyiv regime has taken responsibility once again for a new terrorist attack. All these SBU losers and the mad Kiev regime are all tools managed by the Anglo-Saxons,” Zakharova stated, referring to the U.S. and Britain as the primary beneficiaries of what she termed “Kiev’s terrorism.”

The U.S. State Department has denied any involvement or prior knowledge of the assassination. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented that Kirillov had “propagated an illegal invasion and imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people.”

If you were curious why Igor Kirillov was just assassinated, watch this video.

In August 2023, Kirillov outlined how the US and Big Pharma “rule the world” by “manufacturing biological crises”.

He also discussed how all of this evidence has been submitted to the UN many times,… pic.twitter.com/EMTVTfrGnl

— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) December 17, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who maintains that Russia’s Ukrainian campaign aims to protect against NATO expansion, has not publicly addressed the killing.

While Moscow attributes numerous domestic assassinations to Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities justify such operations as necessary measures against those they consider war criminals, viewing them as legitimate actions in their existential struggle against Russian aggression.

Previous targets have included Russian nationalist ideologue Darya Dugina’s daughter, pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, and a Russian submarine commander.