Russian’s chemical weapons tsar killed in e-scooter bomb explosion on Moscow street

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE

A bomb trapped to an electric scooter killed a Russian general in Moscow yesterday after Ukraine accused him of being behind a series of chemical attacks.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, a close aide to Vladimir Putin, was killed moments after emerging from a luxury block of flats. The device, thought to consist either of plastic explosives or metal fragments, was detonated remotely by Ukrainian secret service agents hiding nearby..

Following the blast the e-scooter was seen lying on the snowy street near the bodies of Lt-Gen Kirillov and his aide Ilya Polikarpov.

Images suggested its handlebars had been blown off in the attack just a few kilometres from the Kremlin.

It was described as Ukraine’s most ambitious action on Russian soil since the nations went to war in early 2022.

Lt-Gen Kirillov, 54, a married father-of-two, was a familiar face on Russian television, giving briefings from the defence ministry, and claiming Ukraine was developing chemical weapons.

Leaked security footage showed him and Mr Polikarpov walking from the apartment building towards a waiting car. The e-scooter can be seen propped against a wall. Moments later, Ukrainian SBU intelligence agents detonated the device remotely, sending a radio signal either from a phone or a car key fob. The explosion damaged several apartments, shattered windows and brickwork and blew doors off their hinges.

Russian state media suggested 300g of explosive materials, such as Semtex, had been strapped to the e-scooter. But UK security sources said it could have been a “fragmentation device’” consisting of nails, glass or metal fragments.

The deaths came hours after Ukraine charged Lt-Gen Kirillov with war crimes over the use of banned substances. Security sources in Kyiv described him as a “legitimate target”.

A British chemical-weapons expert said yesterday that Lt-Gen Kirillov had also helped to prepare the 2018 novichok poisonings in Salisbury.

Colonel Hamish de Bretton Gordon said: “Kirillov had been in charge of Russia’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear forces since 2017. It is likely the novichok chemical agent used in the attempted assassination of double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury was prepared by Kirillov’s forces.

”Kirillov was also a prominent figure in Syria when President Assad was gassing opponents. That was very important for him — Kirillov saw how important these weapons could be, so he developed a plan to use industrial quantities of banned substances in eastern Ukraine.

”Kirillov was also a Putin mouthpiece for disinformation, blaming Salisbury on Britain’s secret services and making false claims that Ukraine was developing a ‘dirty bomb’. This will be a shattering blow to Putin.”

Kyiv officials suggested that under Lt-Gen Kirillov’s leadership Russia had used chemical weapons 4800 times, including using drones to drop grenades laced with chloropicrin, a gas used in the World War II.

Such attacks, and claims that Ukraine was making chemical weapons, led to the UK sanctioning him last year.

Last night, the Kremlin denied allegations against Lt-Gen Kirillov and threatened reprisals for the “murder of two servicemen”.

Lt-Gen Kirillov is said to have told friends he was aware of a Ukrainian assassination plot.

The Mail understands a network of Russians who want to overthrow Mr Putin helped Ukraine’s undercover agents.

Russia said Ukraine had carried out a string of assassinations during the war.