ITV GMB's Kate Garraway halts show for breaking death announcement

Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway has delivered some startling breaking news. Co-hosting the ITV morning show with Richard Madeley on Tuesday (December 17), they were joined by Sean Fletcher, who was in the studio to present additional news segments.

He reported the death of Igor Kirillov, Russia's chief of nuclear bomb disposal, in a blast. Sean shared: "Breaking news in the past hour. The head of Russia's nuclear defence forces has been killed in an explosion in Moscow."

Kirillov, aged 54, was exiting a building on Ryazansky Prospekt when an explosive device concealed within a scooter detonated, also claiming the life of his assistant.

The attack, which set off roughly 200g of TNT, is suspected to have been orchestrated by a Ukrainian hit squad, with the bomb being triggered remotely. Authorities have launched a full investigation into the incident.

The Russian investigative committee stated: "Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and his assistant were killed," adding that "Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene. Investigative actions and operational search activities are being carried out aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime.", reports the Express.

Images circulating on Russian Telegram channels depicted the devastated entrance of a building, strewn with debris and two bodies amidst bloodied snow.

The death of General Kirillov has occurred just a day after Ukrainian prosecutors indicted him for the use of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine. The SBU, Ukraine's Security Service, has documented over 4,800 instances of chemical weapons being used since February 2022.

Appointed as head of the NBC force in April 2017, Kirillov was a graduate of the Kostroma Higher Military Command School of Chemical Defence, as reported by Tass, a Russian state-run media outlet. Furthermore, he faced sanctions from Britain due to the "abhorrent use of inhumane chemical weapons" on Ukrainian battlefields.

In October, when announcing the sanctions, the UK foreign office condemned Kirillov for his role in deploying "responsible for helping deploy these barbaric weapons."

He was also denounced for being "a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation" and for "spreading lies to mask Russia's shameful and dangerous behavior".