On 17 December Lieutenant-general Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed in Moscow by a  Ukrainian agent in a targeted assassination, intensifying a new front in the conflict. Kirillov, the head of Russia’s nuclear, chemical, and biological defence forces, died in an explosion outside his home caused by a remotely detonated bomb hidden in a scooter. The Ukrainian security service claimed that Kirillov was ‘a legitimate target’ due to his alleged war crimes, including the use of banned chemical weapons on Ukrainian troops. Since February 2022, Russia is said to have used chemical weapons over 4,800 times under his leadership. This marks a continuing trend of Ukraine’s covert operations to assassinate high-ranking Russian officials and disrupt their military efforts. While Ukrainian intelligence rarely takes credit for such actions, these killings are seen as a psychological tool to weaken Russia's morale and send a message about the cost of war crimes.