The Guardian view on a Moscow assassination: Ukraine’s justified strike and Russia’s baseless outrage | Editorial

Kyiv's targeted killings expose the reach of its intelligence services, challenging the Kremlin's war machine while sticking to the laws of war

Russia's leadership is furious that one of their top commanders has been assassinated by Ukrainian spies. Yet their anger seems misplaced: the targeted killing of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was not an unprovoked act, but a consequence of Russia's ongoing offensive and Ukraine's right to defend itself under international law.

The explosion that shook a quiet Moscow neighbourhood - eliminating the head of the Russian military's chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit, known as RKhBZ - also revealed the unexpectedly formidable capabilities of Ukraine's secret service (SBU). The general and his assistant are the most senior figures assassinated since Russia's 2022 invasion. The pair were killed when a bomb, concealed in a parked scooter outside a Moscow residential building, was remotely detonated.