Russian authorities have detained a 29-year-old Uzbek national suspected of organising the assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian military’s chemical and biological defence forces. 

The attack, one of the most audacious and significant on Russian soil since the beginning of the Ukraine war, also killed Kirillov’s aide, Ilya Polikarpov.

The bombing occurred on December 17 in south-east Moscow when an explosive device concealed in an electric scooter was remotely detonated as Kirillov and Polikarpov exited the general’s apartment block. The blast killed both men instantly, shattering windows, and scattering debris across the street. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has claimed responsibility for the operation, calling it a justified strike against a “war criminal.”

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the arrested suspect admitted to being recruited by Kyiv, reportedly in exchange for $100,000 and a promise of relocation to the European Union. Officials stated that the man was detained on suspicion of carrying out the attack and had been "recruited by Ukrainian special forces." Surveillance footage reportedly shows the suspect planting the scooter and tracking Kirillov’s movements from a rented car nearby, while live-streaming the scene to Ukrainian handlers in Dnipro, who then triggered the bomb.

The assassination came one day after Ukraine filed criminal charges against Kirillov in absentia, accusing him of overseeing the use of banned chemical agents such as chloropicrin in the conflict, which Kyiv claims resulted in thousands of injuries to Ukrainian soldiers. Kirillov had been sanctioned internationally by the UK and the US for his role in chemical weapons operations and disinformation campaigns, including allegations that Ukraine planned to deploy biological agents via “infected mosquitoes,” claims dismissed as baseless by Western analysts.

The Kremlin denounced the killing as a terrorist act orchestrated by Ukraine. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on December 18 that the attack exemplifies Ukraine’s willingness to use “terrorist methods,” adding that such incidents validate Russia’s decision to launch the so-called Special Military Operation in 2022. President Vladimir Putin extended condolences to Kirillov’s family, while the Russian Foreign Ministry vowed to raise the matter at the United Nations Security Council.

The attack has also sparked fears of backlash against Uzbek and Central Asian migrant workers in Russia. More than one million Uzbeks constitute a significant part of Russia’s migrant labour force but have long faced discrimination. Tensions escalated after an attack by the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) group on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024 that killed approximately 140 people, leading to the arrests of several Tajik nationals. Since then, Central Asians migrant workers have reported that they are being stopped more often in the street by police, and regularly have to wait five or more hours at the border before being let into the country.