Ukraine claimed responsibility for the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, a senior Russian military official, in a rare targeted bombing in Moscow on Tuesday, says the Wall Street Journal.

Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops, was killed alongside his assistant when an explosive device planted in a scooter detonated outside a residential building early Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials described the assassination as a special operation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), while Russian authorities classified the attack as terrorism.

Kirillov had been accused by Ukraine of ordering the use of banned chemical weapons, with Kyiv citing over 4,800 recorded cases. He was also under U.K. sanctions for overseeing chemical weapon use and spreading Kremlin disinformation.

In the past, Kirillov claimed Ukraine might detonate a “dirty bomb,” accusations analysts dismissed as propaganda.

The bombing highlights Ukraine’s strategy of targeting high-profile Russian figures amid the ongoing war. Previously, U.S. intelligence attributed the 2022 killing of Daria Dugina to Kyiv.

Russian officials, shocked by Kirillov’s death, vowed retaliation. Investigations into the blast are ongoing, with Russian security forces analyzing surveillance footage near the scene. The incident underscores escalating tactics in the nearly three-year-long conflict.