The explosion that killed Igor Kirillov on Tuesday appears to be the most ambitious targeted attack on Russian soil so far in the war. According to a source familiar with the operation, the Ukrainian security services carried out the attack, striking at the core of Russia’s military near the heart of the nation’s capital.
The use of an exploding scooter to eliminate a senior general highlights vulnerabilities in Russia’s heavily fortified internal security system. It also underscores Ukraine’s sense of urgency in regaining the initiative in the war, especially as Russia continues its steady advance on the eastern front and the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House looms.
Kirillov, the head of Russia’s radiological, biological, and chemical protection troops, was believed by Ukraine and its allies to have played a particularly destructive role in the conflict. He was responsible for the widespread use of chemical substances and riot control agents, such as CS gas, on the battlefield. Additionally, he was an expert in deploying disinformation, which was crucial for maintaining domestic support for the war.
In one of his final public appearances in November, Kirillov claimed that Ukraine’s main objective when it invaded Russia’s Kursk region was to seize the Kursk nuclear power plant. He also revived a two-year-old Russian conspiracy theory that Ukraine was planning to build a dirty bomb.
Assassinations of key military figures on Russian soil, either directly or indirectly linked to Ukraine, have been a notable aspect of this war. In July of last year, former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky was shot while out for a run in the southern city of Krasnodar. Kirillov’s death, however, marks the fourth such incident in just the last two months.
In October, Dmitry Golenkov, a pilot with Russia’s 52nd heavy bomber regiment, was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in the Bryansk region. Then, in mid-November, a source from Ukraine’s security services told CNN that they were responsible for a car bomb in Sevastopol, Crimea, which killed the chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet missile ships.
Less than a week ago, the deputy chief designer of Russia’s Mars Design Bureau was shot in a Moscow park. CNN’s Ukrainian security source confirmed that Kyiv was behind the killing, noting that the individual was responsible for upgrading some of the cruise missiles fired at Ukraine.
Like all employees of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Kirillov is replaceable, and it’s unlikely that his death will prompt Russia to reverse its stance on chemical weapons. However, as with many of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian soil, there’s an information component at play here – a message to the Russian military that individuals are vulnerable, no matter where they are, and to the Russian people, an attempt to puncture the facade that everything is going according to plan.
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