Igor Kirillov
1970–2024 (age 54)
Biography
Igor Anatolyevich Kirillov (Russian: Игорь Анатольевич Кириллов; 13 July 1970 – 17 December 2024) was a Russian lieutenant general. He was the head of the Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Defense Troops of the Russian Armed Forces. He held a Candidate of Military Sciences degree. He was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation (2024, posthumous) and was a Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation (2021), becoming the first person to receive both honors.
Kirillov's military unit has been accused by the US and Ukraine of having used the chemical weapon chloropicrin during the Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, outlawed internationally by the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has ratified. He was subject to multiple economic sanctions and a Ukrainian arrest warrant for deploying chloropicrin against enemy troops.
On 17 December 2024, Kirillov was killed in Moscow by the detonation of an explosive device as a result of a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) special operation.