US did not know in advance about Ukraine's plans to kill Russian General Kirillov in Moscow
The U.S. State Department has denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the assassination of Russian General Igor Kirillov, spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing on Tuesday.
"I don’t have any assessment on that explosion. I can tell you that the United States was not aware of it in advance and was not involved," Miller stated.
He noted that the Russian general was implicated in "a number of atrocities," including the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian military personnel. The United States had previously assessed this as a violation of international law on the battlefield.
The State Department representative reiterated that Washington has no comments regarding the "individual incident" of General Kirillov's assassination.
Early on Tuesday, General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in Moscow. An explosive device detonated as the military personnel exited Kirillov's apartment building. The assassination of Kirillov was reportedly carried out by the SBU, according to a source speaking to LIGA.net.
Later, a video of the explosion that killed General Kirillov and his aide surfaced. The blast wave shattered windows in nearby buildings.