A senior Russian general was killed by a bomb blast in Moscow on Tuesday in a targeted killing Ukrainian sources say was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was the head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces and was killed alongside his assistant, Igor Kirill, outside of a residential building. Russian investigators say an explosive device was planted on a nearby scooter.
An SBU source told BBC that Kirillov was a “legitimate target,” saying he was responsible for war crimes and chemical weapons attacks, allegations Russia denies. The Russian military says the position Kirillov served in is responsible for protecting Russian forces from nuclear, chemical, and biological attacks.
The British government expressed support for the assassination. “We’re not going to mourn the death of an individual who’s propagated an illegal invasion and imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Russian officials are vowing a response to the assassination and plan to raise the issue at the UN Security Council. “Those responsible for this crime must be duly punished and be unequivocally condemned by the international community,” said Dmitry Polyansky, a Russian representative to the UN.
Last year, The Washington Post published a report that credited the SBU and Ukraine’s military intelligence’s ability to carry out targeted killings inside Russia with the support the intelligence services had received from the CIA since 2014.
The Post report pointed to the August 2022 assassination of Darya Dugina, daughter of prominent Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, and said her killing and other similar operations “involved elite teams of Ukrainian operatives drawn from directorates that were formed, trained, and equipped in close partnership with the CIA.”
The CIA spent tens of millions of dollars on the effort and helped form a new unit of the SBU known as the “Fifth Directorate” that was created specifically to develop groups “capable of operating behind front lines and working as covert groups.”
The report also detailed how the CIA helped build up Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as the GUR, which one former US intelligence official referred to as “our little baby.”
Of course he was a legitimate target. He was a general in the Russia army.
Which is why all Israeli army personel are legitimate targets and should be killed if possible.
So basically he was human scum
Almost as bad as a health insurance CEO
You entertain yourself
https://x.com/i/status/1869156554752073953
This escalation now makes the inhabitants of the Ukrainian regime valid targets.
What “escalation?” There have been previous Ukrainian killings of Russian generals. There have been previous Ukrainian attacks in Moscow.
Combatants (including at command level) are always “valid targets.” Non-combatants are never “valid targets.”
Where does that put health insurance CEOs, whose companies have killed more Americans than the Russians ever have?
That’s an outlandish claim with no evidence. And the fact that murdering a CEO is being played down because he was doing his job is truly the lowest point yet.
So, you don't think a shit load of people have died because they couldn't afford to insure themselves? Not saying murdering some CEO is going to solve anything but I think that is a given.
This death claim was no where around until news cycle started spreading it after the CEO was murdered. And even if somehow the company had a poor ratings in denying referrals, welcome to the world of HMO. United isn’t alone in the shit show of health service. The solution is to prevent HMOs, much like the cable companies, to play monopoly in states and allow businesses to cross the state lines. Lower the prices of health insurance and perhaps you can have multiple coverages to cover whatever that needs to be covered.
To suggest that the “cause” of thousands of deaths was because of a company is B.S.
By your logic all military officers and Zelensky himself are valid targets. FAFO!
It’s not just “my” logic. It’s the logic of war. Yes, Zelenskyy, and Putin are “valid targets.” They’re the commanders in chief of the armed forces of the belligerent states.
https://sonar21.com/throwing-gasoline-on-the-fire-ukraine-murders-russian-general-and-aide-with-a-bomb/
What level of chaos could Russia engender within Ukraine and the foreign intelligence communities by taking out Zelensky and his generals?
Zelensky will be a marked individual wherever he seeks exile.
Better to get his directors & sponsors. And then work down the food chain till you get to him. Make it a 10 year plan.
From the Russian POV it would probably be a very bad idea to take out Zelensky as there is a non-zero chance he could be replaced by someone smart enough to understand and bother with the reality of the situation instead of how to make cosmetically altered pigs look good on tv.
Ukraine, NATO, and Zelensky are in a precarious, no-win situation that will likely continue for a considerable time.
What can Keith Kellogg and Donald Trump negotiate with Russia that favors NATO and Washington? They'd have to think in unaccustomed terms of saving Russian, European, and Ukrainian lives.
Moscow may give the Trump team short-shrift and the war will continue despite the global economic collapse.
"CIA
Ukrainian IntelligenceKills Senior Russian General in Moscow Bombing" There, fixed that headline for you…..I bet MOSSAD help Ukraine on this assassination…!
Yeah, because planting a bomb on a vehicle is sooooooo complicated.
That's all there is to it?
There are many organizations capable of organizing an assassination by bombing. The Mossad didn't likely pull off the Ivo Pukanic, Fernando Buesa, or Dapper Danny Hogan jobs, either.
But you made it sound like the only planning was putting explosives on a vehicle. Whether Mossad was involved or not wasn't my point.
I didn't say "putting," I said "planting." There's a difference.
"Planting" entails handling something so as to achieve a particular goal with it. Putting seeds in a drawer isn't planting them. Putting them in the correct soil with the correct fertilizer at the correct time of year is.
How does that change the point of my comment? It doesn't. There was more to the attack than just "planting" the explosives on a vehicle. You tried to make it sound otherwise.
Knowing when and where combined requires more than the actions of a grunt. Targeted assassinations like this take a network (however small) to set up the operation so that some relatively unsophisticated drone can plant the device at the correct time.
There had to be some visual on the target, either video, or surveillant to time the detonation with the identification of the target passing in the kill zone, if there is no chance of planting a trigger on the target.
I hear that there are plenty of people on this planet able to organize such an operation very efficiently without any sort of Mossad involvement anywhere in the process.
That's one more terrorist attack by the SBU.
I don't know about that. They said so, but that doesn't count for anything, one way or the other. It looks like there could be more to this story, there could be some reason why exactly this general having not much to do with any sort of strategical or tactical reason, as there seems to be none involved.
This general was reporting on US-funded biolabs in Ukraine. Russia regularly makes calls for a UN inquest on the subject.
No! There is still no evidence that we are in WWIII, whatsoever. …Wait!?
Well, the Russians could delay that by few weeks by making the excuse that the general was old and useless.
What is the difference between a "Terrorist" and a "Freedom Fighter"?
Answer: It depends whose ox is being gored.
Russians have killed a lot fewer Americans than health insurance companies, yet the mainstream media praises the assassination of Russian generals and condemns the killing of health insurance CEOs.
Only if the freedom fighter is actually fighting for freedom, and not dominance …
And who determines if it’s “freedom” or “dominance”? Remember the “They hate us because our freedom” line?
Well, if one reaches across a border to free ( as in destabilize) some state (see Georgia, Ukraine, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Vietnam, … , for example), one is attempting to "conquer" that state – not to give that state its "Freedom".
Freedom fighters come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very very large, while others are small yet well-financed by large actors. We are (have morphed into) the epitome of "freedom fighters" who are galaxies away from fighting for freedom – for anyone.
From your first paragraph – I literally cannot tell if you are alluding to the USSR/Russian Federation, or the United States of America. An equal case can be made for either State as the actor in question.
The West is just expressing it's true values. Nothing new to see here. It's what we do to preserve freedom and democracy and human values the world over!
The question isn't whether he was a legitimate target or not, the question is what good it will do for Ukraine regarding the ongoing war. My guess is that it will mean more Ukrainians will be killed because of it and more Ukrainian land will be destroyed. So, none. Or maybe this was another attempt to improve Ukraine's negotiating position. If so, it too will backfire.
It may also mean Russia will declare Ukraine a terrorist state. There is a legal precedent with Afghanistan, that the Russians will most certainly bring up.
That feels like a super-worthless designation these days. "Terrorist state" is like saying "sick with COVID" … NOGAF any more.
All kinds of crazy stuff happens when you are swinging on your way down, and in the throes of death.
As mentioned many times before, the current territorial gains are no longer following a linear progression. Things will go quicker and quicker.
Putin played this very well and the territory formally known as Ukraine is well on its way to becoming a devastated rump state.
Another failed Empire experiment. Great job and “Mission Accomplished!”
https://tass.com/world/1889583
Rutte announces launch of Command on Ukraine, calls to refrain from discussing peace
NATO secretary general claimed that Western states should focus on arms shipments to Ukraine
I watched the Douglas Macgregor—Judge Napolitano interview today. They posited that President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump would have a 10-20-year difference regarding Ukraine's eventual ascension to NATO.
The Americans don't fully grasp the Russian position. Ukraine won't be allowed to join NATO, regardless of the bloc's internal dissension.
The EU is near dissolution as the euro falters along with the major economies and governments such as France, the UK, and Germany.