After the explosion in Moscow, in which Russian General Igor Kirillov was killed on Tuesday morning, the Ukrainian SBU intelligence service has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to a statement from the SBU, which multiple media outlets have reported, the operation was a “special operation” of the SBU.
Kirillov, according to the Ukrainians, was a “war criminal” and therefore a “completely legitimate target”. He is alleged to have ordered the use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces in the war. He was charged in absentia by Ukrainian prosecutors on Monday.
The explosion on Tuesday was triggered by a bomb, which was apparently hidden in an electric scooter, at around 6 am local time. Kirillov’s aide also died in the explosion. Kirillov was the Russian commander for nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
It seems likely in Russia that the Ukraine is indeed behind the attack. Alexei Shuravlev, the first deputy chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, told the RIA Novosti news agency that “almost no one doubts” that the SBU carried out the attack. “They are proud of it, and the worst thing is that they are fostering terrorism in the West.”
Meanwhile, the Russian authorities have classified Kirillov’s death as a “terrorist act”. The deputy head of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has threatened “retaliation” for the attack.