How Ukraine Took Out Russia’s Butcher

24 hours later, Putin's world remains in a state of shock.

6:12 AM
Ryazansky Avenue, suburban southeast Moscow.

Well-lit streets, high-rise buildings, shopping malls, and a line of neatly parked cars reflect the affluence of this neighborhood.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces, emerged from a residential building alongside his assistant, Ilya Polikarpov. Three steps later, dashcam footage captured a loud explosion. Three hundred grams of TNT, attached to an electric scooter parked near the building’s entrance, detonated.

The blast instantly killed both men.

The bomb was clearly timed to perfection. It was remotely detonated, with someone watching—either through nearby surveillance cameras or from a discreet location. Not too close, but not too far either. Ukraine is over 600 miles from Moscow, underscoring the likelihood that someone local triggered the device.

The Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy (SBU), Ukraine's Security Service, claimed responsibility for the attack. Modeled after the FBI, the SBU sometimes operates more like the CIA. Rumor has it that, in late 2022, the SBU orchestrated the car bombing that killed Darya Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin. Just last week, Mikhail Shatsky, a Russian missile expert, was shot dead near Moscow.

High-profile assassinations by the SBU within Moscow are nothing new. But targeting Lt. Gen. Kirillov, a figure deeply entrenched in the Kremlin apparatus, is monumental. The intelligence was impeccable; the execution, flawless.

Addressing the attack, a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
"It’s clear we won’t be mourning the death of someone who orchestrated an illegal invasion and inflicted immense suffering and loss on the Ukrainian people."

The relationship between Russia and the United Kingdom soured long before this attack, particularly after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury—a Russian spy who defected to the UK. Russian operatives entered British soil and orchestrated the chemical attack. Moscow has conducted such executions in foreign lands with impunity for years, often using radiation, chemical, and biological agents as their preferred methods. Lt. Gen. Kirillov played a central role in these operations.

The UK had already sanctioned Kirillov in October this year.

Given Ukraine’s distance, it’s implausible that SBU agents traveled over 600 miles, planted the bomb, and vanished without a trace. This was likely an inside job, aided by collaborators within Russia. Hours after the attack, Russian authorities announced the arrest of a 29-year-old Uzbek man.

The attack dominated headlines in Russia and abroad—impossible to suppress. Yet the suspect’s quick detention feels suspicious. Still, it hardly matters. For Ukraine, this was a job well done.

The real kicker? Not a single Western country has condemned the attack.

And why would they? That was Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov—a man who embodied Moscow’s dark expertise in radiation, chemical, and biological warfare. It wouldn’t be surprising if officials at 10 Downing Street exchanged high-fives when the news broke.