Conflicts

On Tuesday December 17, Ukraine killed the head of the Russian armed forces' radiological, chemical and biological defense troops, Igor Kirillov, and one of his assistants in a targeted attack in Moscow.

Reactions in Moscow were swift: in his usual rhetorical style, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, spoke on behalf of Mr. Putin, declaring: “Ukraine and its authorities are trying to prolong war and death. The country's politico-military leaders will inevitably be punished. With their last strength, they're trying to justify their useless existence to their Western masters.”

Leonid Slutski, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee, also said, “This terrorist act will soon be investigated and the culprits punished.”

The chairman of the Russian parliament's defense committee, Andrei Kartapolov, also said, “The organizers and perpetrators will be hunted down and punished, whoever they are and wherever they are.”

From the early hours of Tuesday morning, it was known that Kiev was behind what had happened. Ukrainian intelligence stated as much through Ukrainian security service sources, stressing that “Kirillov was a war criminal and a legitimate target and that he had given the order to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian army”.

The attack came just one day after Ukraine accused Kirillov of using chemical weapons in the country as part of the invasion.

(MH with AmBar/Source: Agency/Photo: DPA/Komsomolskaya Pravda)