Before his death in Moscow on Tuesday, Igor Kirillov was known for regularly accusing Ukraine of using or planning to use chemical weapons, although he never provided any evidence to support his claims. The United Kingdom had placed sanctions on Kirillov in October, labeling him as a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to cover up Russia's actions.
In October 2022, during Ukraine's successful liberation of territories in Kherson and other areas, which dealt a major blow to Russia's invasion, Kirillov falsely alleged that Ukraine was preparing to detonate a dirty bomb containing radioactive material within its own borders, claiming that the operation was in its final stages. He also baselessly asserted that Ukraine intended to utilize radioactive substances from the spent nuclear fuel storage facilities at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
In November of the same year, Kirillov went on to claim that one of Ukraine's primary objectives in its incursion into Russia's Kursk region was to seize control of the Kursk nuclear power plant. These allegations were made without any supporting evidence.
