Igor Kirillov: Who was ‘assassinated’ Russian general who helped deploy ‘barbaric’ weapons in Ukraine?
The head of Russia’s nuclear protection forces has been killed by a hidden bomb in Moscow.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov died in the street outside a block of flats about four miles (7km) southeast of the Kremlin.
The bomb was inside an electric scooter and was triggered remotely. It had the power equivalent to roughly 300g of TNT, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services.
Lt Gen Kirillov’s assistant was also killed in the blast.
Kyiv ‘claims it killed senior Russian general’ – follow live
A source from Ukraine’s security services (SBU) told the Reuters news agency it was responsible for the killing. The source said Kyiv regarded the high-ranking official as a war criminal and an “absolutely legitimate target”.
Sky News has not independently verified these claims.
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Russian general killed in Moscow
Who was Igor Kirillov?
Lt Gen Kirillov had been the head of Russia’s nuclear protection forces since 2017 – a branch of the Russian army that included radiological, chemical and biological weapons.
The 54-year-old was born on 13 July 1970 in Kostroma.
He went on to attend Kostroma Higher Military Command School of Chemical Defence, graduating in 2007.
During his time there, between 1991 and 1995, he served as a platoon commander in the Western Group of Forces in Germany and the Moscow Military District.
After graduating, he occupied various posts in Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defence forces, eventually becoming chief in 2017.
He was married and had two sons.
Link to nuclear weapons
The high-ranking Russian general led Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops.
According to the Russian defence ministry website, the force’s main tasks involve identifying hazards and protecting units from contamination.
Another listed task of the group is “causing loss to the enemy by using flame-incendiary means”.
The scene of the explosion in Moscow.
Pic: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Throughout his military career, Lt Gen Kirillov was known for helping to develop the TOS-2 Tosochka heavy flamethrower system.
Although not a nuclear weapon, the TOS-2 is designed to destroy buildings, bunkers, and field fortifications as well as light-armoured vehicles and motor vehicles of the enemy, according to the Russian defence ministry.
Why was he a target?
Ukraine’s intelligence service said Lt Gen Kirillov was responsible for “the massive use of banned chemical weapons” against the Ukrainian military.
According to the SBU there have been more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons on the battlefield since February 2022, particularly K-1 combat grenades, “by order of Kirillov”.
The scooter that exploded, killing the Russian general
In May, the US State Department said it had recorded the use of chloropicrin – a chemical weapon first used in the First World War – against Ukrainian troops.
On Monday, Lt Gen Kirillov was sentenced in absentia by the SBU for the use of banned chemical weapons.
The service said more than 2,000 Ukrainian troops had suffered varying degrees of chemical poisoning since the start of the full-scale invasion.
“According to the investigation, the occupiers use dangerous chemicals mainly in the hottest areas of combat, where they try to hide the use of chemical agents under dense artillery fire,” the SBU said.
Russia has always denied using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and, in turn, has accused Kyiv of using toxic agents in combat.
Why was he sanctioned in the UK?
Lt Gen Kirillov was sanctioned by the UK government back in October for using “hazardous chemical weapons on the battlefield”.
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Are Russian sanctions working?
In a statement at the time, the UK government said Russian forces had openly admitted to the “widespread use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin”.
It said Kirillov was “responsible for helping deploy these barbaric weapons” and had also been “a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour”.
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Other hits on Russia soil
Moscow has accused Ukraine of a string of high-profile assassinations on its soil, designed to weaken morale and punish those Kyiv says are guilty of war crimes.
Ukraine, which says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state, has made clear that it regards such targeted killings as a legitimate tool.
On 9 December – just over a week before Lt Gen Kirillov was killed – an explosive device was placed under a car in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
The device killed and was reportedly targeting Sergei Yevsyukov, the head of the Olenivka Prison, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war died in a missile strike in July 2022.
One other person was injured in the blast.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said at the end of last week that a suspect had been arrested and charged with detonating the device.
Other suspected targets include:
Darya Dugina, a Russian TV commentator and the daughter of Kremlin-linked nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, died in a 2022 car bombing that investigators suspected was aimed at her father.
Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger, died in April 2023, when a statuette given to him at a party in St Petersburg exploded.
A Russian woman, who claimed that she presented the figurine on orders of a contact in Ukraine, was convicted in the case and jailed for 27 years.
Illia Kiva, a former pro-Moscow Ukrainian lawmaker who fled to Russia, was shot and killed near Moscow in December 2023.
The Ukrainian military intelligence at the time lauded the killing, warning that other “traitors of Ukraine” would share the same fate.
World
UK joins NATO operation to bolster Europe’s eastern flank after Russian drone incursions into Poland
NATO is to bolster Europe’s eastern flank, including the use of UK military resources, after Russia’s “reckless and unacceptable” violation of Polish airspace.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced operation ‘Eastern Sentry’ on Friday, involving the deployment of equipment on the border with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine to deter potential Russian aggression.
Poland shot down Russian drones which flew over the country on Wednesday, something the military alliance has portrayed as an attempt by Moscow to test NATO’s military response.
It underlines long-held concerns about the potential expansion of Russia’s three-year war in Ukraine.
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Michael Clarke: Russia looking to frighten NATO
Russia said its drones went astray because they were jammed, but European leaders believe the incursions were a deliberate provocation by Russia.
“It’s reckless and unacceptable. We can’t have Russian drones entering allied airspace,” Mr Rutte told a news conference.
Mark Rutte described Russian drones entering Polish airspace as ‘reckless’. Pic: Reuters
He added that allies, including the UK, France, Germany and Denmark, have so far committed to the mission with others set to join.
In a statement, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said: “The UK is fully committed to playing our part in NATO’s Eastern Sentry following the reckless and dangerous airspace violations by Russia”. It added that the details of the UK’s contribution would be announced soon.
Yvette Cooper visited Ukraine on Friday, her first visit to the country since becoming foreign secretary after a cabinet shake-up by Sir Keir Starmer.
Ms Cooper described her trip, which included a meeting with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a demonstration of solidarity with Ukraine.
“The UK will not stand idly by as Putin continues his barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” Ms Cooper said, noting what she said was the Russian president’s “complete disregard for sovereignty” by sending drones into NATO airspace.
Yvette Cooper met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday. Pic: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Pic: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Prince Harry also made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday, where he met with wounded service members.
NATO already has substantial forces in eastern Europe, including thousands of troops, but the alliance did not explain how many additional forces would be involved in the new operation.
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Prince Harry’s surprise visit to Ukraine
Speaking at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters, US General Alexus Grynkewich told reporters the additional resources will enable the alliance to “plug gaps in the line” and concentrate forces wherever they’re needed while improving communications across NATO’s entire eastern flank.
NATO detailed a modest number of additional military assets – including two F-16 fighter jets and a frigate from Denmark, three Rafale fighter jets from France and four Eurofighter jets from Germany.
The announcement also coincided with a joint military exercise involving thousands of Russian and Belarusian troops, which began on Friday.
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Meanwhile, new measures were announced by the UK against Russia on Friday.
They included bans on 70 vessels the UK says are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that transports Russian oil in defiance of sanctions.
Some 30 individuals and companies – including Chinese and Turkey-based firms – were also sanctioned for their part in supplying Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.
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Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, dismissed Donald Trump’s suggestion that the drone incursion into Poland may have been “a mistake”.
“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake,” Mr Tusk wrote on X. “But it wasn’t. And we know it.”
US-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to progress.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said talks to end the war were currently on “pause” even though channels of communication remain open.
Thousands of troops are taking part in a joint military exercise between Russia and Belarus, as tensions with the EU run high following a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace earlier this week.
The Zapad joint military exercise which began on Friday will involve drills in both Russia and Belarus as well as in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Belarusian defence officials initially said about 13,000 troops would participate in the drill, but in May, its defence ministry said that would be cut nearly in half.
It comes just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down Russian drones over its airspace.
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Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday morning hit back at a suggestion by US President Donald Trump on Thursday that the incursion may have been a “mistake”.
He said in a post on X: “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it.”
Russia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time of the incursions and that it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland.
Friday also saw Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper travelling to Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on the same day the UK announced fresh sanctions against Moscow.
Prince Harry was also in Kyiv for a surprise visit to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
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Prince Harry arrives in Kyiv
Ms Cooper, who was appointed foreign secretary last week, posted about her visit on X saying: “The UK’s support for Ukraine is steadfast. I am pleased to be in Kyiv on my first visit as Foreign Secretary.”
The UK’s new sanctions include bans on 70 vessels that Britain says are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that transports Russian oil in defiance of sanctions already in place.
Yvette Cooper with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Pic: Valentyn Ogirenko/PA
Some 30 individuals and companies – including Chinese and Turkey-based firms – have also been sanctioned for their part in supplying Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.
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Meanwhile on the frontline, Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s oil-loading Primorsk port overnight, an SBU official said.
The attack caused fires and suspended oil-loading operations, the official added.
Russian defence systems also intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a spokesperson for the royal has said.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, visited the city at the invitation of the Ukrainian government.
The Duke of Sussex travelled to the capital to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
Pic: Railway of Ukraine Ukrzaliznytsia/AP
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will also be travelling to Kyiv on Friday in what will be her first foreign trip since being appointed to the job last week.
Her visit coincides with the UK launching a new package of Russia-related sanctions targeting ships carrying Russian oil as well as companies and individuals supplying electronics, chemicals and explosives used to make Russian weapons.
It comes as Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on on NATO’s doorstep on Friday, just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down suspected Russian drones over its airspace.
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Drones shot down in Poland
The Zapad-2025 exercise – a show of force by Russia and its close ally – will involve drills in both countries and in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Meanwhile on the frontline, Russian defence systems intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight,
including nine over the Moscow region, the ministry said on Friday.
The duke told the Guardian while on an overnight train to Kyiv: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.
“We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through.
“We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
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Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, previously travelled to Ukraine in April, when he visited war victims as part of his work with wounded veterans.
The prince visited the Superhumans Center, an orthopaedic clinic in Lviv that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians.
Earlier this week, Harry said the King is “great” after he reunited with him at Clarence House for a private tea.
It was their first meeting in 19 months and lasted just 54 minutes.
The last time the father and son saw each other was in February 2024 when the prince flew to the UK after the monarch announced his cancer diagnosis.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have lived in California since they quit roles as senior working royals in March 2020.
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