Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed in Moscow. He accused the United States of creating “biological laboratories” in Ukraine and deliberately spreading virus mutations

What else was the official known for?

In Moscow, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops, Igor Kirillov, was killed. He and his assistant died near their home on Ryazansky Prospekt as a result of the explosion of a bomb planted in a scooter. According to various media sources, Kirillov was killed as a result of an operation by the Security Service of Ukraine. At the same time, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the office of the President of Ukraine, denies Kyiv’s involvement in the incident.

Lieutenant General Kirillov is known for his statements about American “biological laboratories” in Ukraine, about “combat mosquitoes” created by the United States that are capable of transmitting viruses, and also about the fact that Kyiv allegedly has a “dirty bomb.” The day before the explosion, the SBU charged Kirillov in absentia with the charge that he “gave the order to use chemical weapons” against the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “New Europe” tells what is known about the explosion in Moscow, and recalls the loud statements of the deceased general.

What's happened?

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who served as the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops (RKhBZ) of the Russian Armed Forces, died near a residential building along with his assistant Ilya Polikarpov as a result of the explosion of a bomb hidden in an electric scooter that stood next to the entrance.

The explosion occurred at about 6:00 on December 17 on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow. A TASS source claims that the power of the device was about 300 grams of TNT. According to RBC, the power was more than 100 grams. The device was activated using a radio signal.

According to Mash, eyewitnesses heard the sound of an explosion and then saw two men lying on the ground who came out of the entrance. Nearby lay fragments from windows knocked out by the shock wave. Photos from the scene showed a destroyed entrance to an apartment building with blackened bricks and destroyed doors.

The Investigative Committee opened a case under articles of terrorism, murder and illegal arms trafficking.

Who is behind the murder?

The main version of the explosion is considered to be sabotage by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), two RBC sources familiar with the progress of the investigation told . According to them, FSB explosives experts went to the scene of the explosion to collect materials for examination and examine neighboring buildings and structures.

Kiev considers Kirillov a war criminal, a source in the Ukrainian Security Service told Reuters. An interlocutor of the BBC Ukrainian Service said that the explosives were placed in a scooter that stood next to the entrance of a residential building, and then it was detonated when Kirillov and his assistant entered the house. A Kyiv Independent source also confirmed the version that Kirillov was killed as a result of an operation by the Security Service of Ukraine.

“Kirillov was a war criminal and a completely legitimate target because he ordered the use of prohibited chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers,”

— said the publication’s interlocutor.

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev announced Kiev’s involvement in the incident and threatened “imminent retribution.” “This terrorist attack is the agony of the Bandera regime. With the last of his strength, he is trying to justify his worthless existence to his Western masters, to prolong the war and death, to justify the catastrophic situation at the front,” he said.

The day before the explosion, on December 16, the SBU charged Kirillov in absentia with “giving the order to use chemical weapons” against the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, chemical weapons have been used in more than 4,800 incidents, according to the service's investigation.

“Russian forces primarily use chemical warfare agents, dropping them from first-person view (FPV) drones onto Ukrainian positions. When chemical grenades are detonated, their toxic compounds affect human mucous membranes, especially the eyes and respiratory tract,” the SBU statement says.

Adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak denies Kiev’s involvement in the incident: in a comment to journalist Alexander Plyushchev, he stated that Ukraine does not use “methods of terrorist formats.” “Decisions regarding this or that general are made on the battlefield, and not somewhere else,” Podolyak added.

What is the general known for?

Lieutenant General Kirillov was 54 years old. He graduated from the Kostroma Military School of the RKhBZ Troops and the Military Academy of the RKhBZ Troops. He also served there. Since 2017, Kirillov has served as chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops of the Russian Armed Forces.

He took part in the creation and adoption of the new heavy flamethrower system TOS-2 “Tosochka” . In addition, Kirillov often spoke out about the activities of “foreign biological laboratories” and their possible connection with the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. In particular,

he argued that the United States is expanding its network of biological laboratories outside the country and conducting research with highly pathogenic viruses and bacteria.

“The United States, as in 2019, began preparing for a new pandemic by searching for virus mutations. We do not rule out the use by the United States of so-called defensive technologies for offensive purposes, as well as for the purposes of global governance by creating crisis situations of a biological nature,” he said .

And in January 2024, Kirillov said that senior United States officials deliberately obstructed the investigation into the causes of the coronavirus pandemic and manipulated public opinion, and the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, in his opinion, as a result received excess profits from the sale of “low-quality vaccines.”

Kirillov also periodically conducted briefings for the Russian Ministry of Defense. He accused Ukraine of violating nuclear safety protocols, the West of various other alleged crimes, and also talked about “American biolabs” in Ukraine and Kyiv’s plans to create a “dirty bomb.” A similar event was supposed to take place today, RBC sources say . On what topic is not specified.

In particular, in June 2022, Kirillov announced “US-supervised” Ukrainian “biolatories” that studied viruses that can be transmitted through mosquitoes: according to him, “military biological projects in Ukraine are carried out not only by the United States, but also by a number of its allies in NATO bloc."

In April last year, Kirillov said that “240 pathogens of dangerous diseases” were allegedly discovered in the “biological laboratories” of Ukraine:

“We actually worked in four laboratories. In the laboratories that we discovered, about 240 pathogenic substances of various types were discovered,

we are exploring them and continue to explore them. Most of them concern anthrax and cholera,” Kirillov said. According to him, the United States resumed the program for building “biological laboratories” in Ukraine last spring.

And at a briefing in December last year, an official reported that the Ministry of Defense had discovered new evidence of certain “dangerous activities” of American “laboratories” in Ukraine. According to the general, Kyiv conducted experiments with triethanolamine (a skin-tearing substance) and sent their results to the United States: “Russian specialists received access to a number of Ukrainian biological objects, in particular, to laboratories in the cities of Rubezhnoye, Severodonetsk, Kherson and their official documentation. Its analysis confirmed the dangerous nature of the Pentagon’s experiments to assess the susceptibility of the Ukrainian population to zoonotic infections,” he argued then.

In addition, it was Kirillov who spread the information that Ukraine supposedly has a “dirty bomb”: “Dirty bomb. <...> It's actually not that difficult. I think they have it,” he said.

Britain imposed sanctions against Kirillov in October. The United States did not impose sanctions against the general.

How did Z-bloggers react to the assassination of the general?

Z-bloggers call Kirillov’s death a painful blow. “The murder of the chief of the NBC protection troops in Moscow once again emphasizes that no matter what successes we achieve on the battlefield, no matter what euphoria reigns and no matter how much we talk about intercepting the initiative, the other side always retains the opportunity to inject painfully,” writes Telegram channel “Rybar”, close to the Russian Ministry of Defense. “Voenkor” Yuri Kotenok called on the Russian intelligence services to move to a “better level” in working with the “fifth column”: “Martial law and a counterintelligence regime should be introduced not only in border areas,” he wrote,

“Since the authorities of the former Ukraine attach great importance to various types of PR and information warfare, we can confidently say that the target for the terrorist attack was chosen a long time ago, but the curators adjusted the time in order to use the murder of the Russian general with maximum effect for the domestic Ukrainian audience,” he wrote VGTRK correspondent Andrey Medvedev.

The pro-war channel “Revenge of Good Will” writes that the murder of the general, “who was a media personality of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation,” “will not go unanswered”: “And we hope that in the future we will do this preventively,” they added.