Wednesday briefing: World waits after Ukraine assassinates top Putin general in Moscow | Russia

Good morning.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, Russian General Igor Kirillov and his deputy were killed when a bomb hidden in an e-scooter detonated as they left an apartment. Ukraine’s SBU security service quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which stands as one of the most daring assassinations of a senior Russian military figure since the war began nearly three years ago. Russian authorities arrested a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan early today, the Tass news agency reported, citing the FSB, the country’s domestic spy agency.

Kirillov headed the military’s chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit. Hailed as a patriot at home, he is considered a war criminal by Kiev over alleged use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops. Ukraine has claimed he was an “absolutely legitimate target”.

For today’s newsletter, I spoke to the Guardian’s Russian affairs correspondent, Pyotr Sauer, about the significance of this attack and its potential consequences. It comes right after the headlines.

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In depth: ‘This will send shockwaves through the Russian military establishment’

Ukrainian officials say Kirillov, who had been head of Russia’s nuclear protection forces since 2017, was targeted specifically because he presided over “the massive use of banned chemical weapons” against Ukraine’s military. According to the SBU, chemical weapons have been used more than 4,800 times since the start of the war – and Ukraine laid the blame squarely on Kirillov.

Kiev says that Moscow’s use of such weapons has become “systemic”. Britain and the US have also accused Russia of using banned chemical weapons on the battlefield; Washington sanctioned Russia for the use of chloropicrin, an agent notorious from the First World War, against Ukrainian troops; and Britain directly sanctioned Kirillov in October, declaring he was “responsible for helping to deploy … inhumane chemical weapons” on the battlefields of Ukraine.

“There is another reason why Ukraine targeted him,” Pyotr adds: his media profile. Kirillov became known for his outrageous briefings, falsely accusing Ukraine of various crimes, including the development of a “dirty” radioactive bomb. Some claims bordered on the “absolutely ridiculous,” Pyotr says, such as when Kirillov said Ukraine was working with the United States to develop drones that could give malaria to Russian soldiers.

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How important is this murder?

Less than a day before his killing, the SBU issued an arrest warrant for Kirillov for alleged war crimes. His death is a symbolic victory for Kiev, as “it shows that Ukraine’s hand reaches very far and that they have men operating in Russia”, says Pyotr.

“This will send shockwaves through the Russian military establishment. I spoke to a former defense official this morning who said many in the Defense Ministry were appalled that such a senior official was killed in Moscow, he adds. “Other officials are likely to get 24/7 security now because of this.”

It’s not going to tip the scale of how the war is going – Russia is on the offensive and making territorial gains. “But I think Ukraine is trying to show that everyone who is responsible for the war will eventually be punished one way or another, and if they are not able to prosecute them, they will find others ways to punish these men,” says Pjotr. .

The news will boost morale in Kiev and embarrass and anger the Russian authorities, who are treating the killing as a terrorist attack.

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How did Ukraine manage this?

There are a number of different theories circulating about how Kiev was able to execute this plan.

“Ukraine could have had someone on the ground or the device could have been detonated remotely. There is also a chance that Ukraine used Russian anti-Putin resistance fighters to do this,” says Pyotr.

Ukraine has already demonstrated that it has the ability to carry out extraterritorial killings. Last week, Kiev claimed responsibility for killing a senior scientist working on weapons and rockets that Russia is using in its war in Ukraine.

And in 2022, Russia accused Ukrainian special services of killing Darya Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist Putin ally Alexander Dugin, in a car bomb in Moscow. Ukraine denied carrying out the attack.

Although Russia knows that Ukraine is capable of such operations, it is clearly unable to prevent them, says Pyotr: “Ukraine is really sending a signal that they will not only kill generals and military personnel on the battlefield, but they will also target those responsible for the war inside Russia.”

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The answer inside Russia

Russia said on Tuesday only that it had “opened a criminal case into the murder of two soldiers”. Russian news agency RIA reported that former President Dmitry Medvedev, now a senior Russian security official, said Ukraine’s military and political leadership faced revenge.

The Kremlin has also not yet indicated how it will retaliate. “Russia has made its own hybrid campaign against the West,” says Pjotr. There was a foiled plan to assassinate the head of a German arms manufacturer and attempts to sabotage important submarine cables. “I think it will continue and probably escalate after this,” he says.

Although there were reports that residents were scared by the blast, the incident is likely to only “harden the mood in Moscow”, Pyotr adds, “with Russians demanding more rockets fired at Ukraine”.

Russian officials will use this attack to further justify their war in Ukraine and reject any call for a ceasefire, which they have done anyway. “They will use this to rally the nation around the war and insist that they must continue to fight for regime change and make other massive demands from Ukraine,” says Pyotr.

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What else have we read

• I never thought I’d take the 80s boy band Bros or its twins seriously in any way, the Goss brothersbut damn Simon Hattenstone, this interview with Matt Goss felt raw and humanizing. Warren Murray, Guardian international desk

• Ruth Michaelson’s analysis provides a sharp examination of how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “domestic balancing act” regarding the Syrian crisis ultimately worked to his advantage. Nemo

• Georgia the “country” has a new, no longer elected president, appointed by its dubious re-elected, pro-Russian Georgian Dream Party government. The old president is not having it, and neither are ordinary Georgians, who continue to stage large-scale protests in the streets of Tbilisi. The Economist examines the situation. Warren

• “On matters of people’s essential liberties, it is not tenable for the country to be divided between freedom in some states and unfreedom in others”: this is Moira Donegan on the legal battle in the US over the interstate shipment of abortion pills. Nemo

• A new Netflix documentary delves into the chaotic world of The Jerry Springer Show that revisits the iconic program 25 years after it first debuted on American television screens. Emine Saner explores what the show’s producers think of their controversial creation in retrospect. Nemo

Sport

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The front pages

The Guardians splash is “Moscow Blast Kills Russian Chemical Weapons Chief” while it Financial Times goes for the passive voice: “Kremlin chemical weapons general killed in Moscow blast by Kyiv agents”. “Brave and spirited to the end” – the Subway on Sara Sharif after her killers were convicted. The Telegraph has “Musk ready to bankroll Farage”. The Mirror leads with “We’ve Been Betrayed”, which is about “Waspi rage at Labour”, about which Express saying “Labour has betrayed our OAPs time and time again”. To Mail it is “treason that proves Labor cynically said ANYTHING to get elected”, whereas Times’ angle is “Labour MPs revolt over new blow to pensioners”. The I reports on “Victory for victims of second Post Office IT scandal after 30 years of lies”.

Today in focus

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Today’s cartoon | Martin Rowson

The upside

A bit of good news to remind you that the world is not all bad

What’s better than Barcelona? Paul Hartley recommends Tarragona, just an hour away from the tourist-heavy Spanish city. Hartley and other Guardian readers share their favorite travel discoveries on a delightful trip to off-the-beaten-path places worth visiting. pastry in Europe’s surfing capital? Sounds delicious. Or a bike ride to the Belgian city of Damme on the canal, not far from Bruges. Or a trip to hilly Lausanne, the Swiss San Francisco, with classy cafes and fantastic outsider art. While it may not be possible to visit all of these places in 2025, it is a reminder of the wonder and joy of experiencing a place for the first time and wanting to share it with others.

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