Kirill (Exodus)

"Private Kirill Khlebnikov, OSKOM Rapid Response unit. And you won't get another word from me, so you can kill me now!"

- Kirill identifying himself to Miller.

Private Kirill Khlebnikov (Russian: Кирилл Хлебников) is a character in Metro Exodus.

Overview
He is the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Khlebnikov of the OSKOM rapid response unit, and presumably the last living survivor in Novosibirsk. Despite being a child, Kirill takes his duties very seriously and looks up to his father as a hero.

Metro Exodus
Kirill is discovered by Miller and Artyom hiding in a drainage pipe as the two are exploring the Novosibirsk Metro. When Artyom finds him, he immediately lunges at the ranger and runs off, forcing Artyom to give chase. Eventually, Miller and Aryom corner the boy and find him hiding in a barrel. Kirill assumes the two are rioters, and refuses to divulge any information, until Miller explains that they came from Moscow, which astonishes Kirill. He takes them to his hideout, and reveals that he and his father, Colonel Khlebnikov, were planning to escape the city shortly before the Aurora crew arrived. His father went to a local Sat-Com center to search for a clean place the two could inhabit, but never returned. With this information, Miller realizes this might be a chance to finally find the clean place the crew were searching for most of their journey. He decides to go to the Sat-Com center with Kirill while Artyom searches the Institute for Renergan-F to cure Anna. Before they set out on their journey, Kirill warns them that they can't explore the surface without the "green stuff", which will protect them from the deadly radiation. Luckily, Kirill still has some of the green stuff left over, though it was only three doses.

He gave two doses to Artyom and Miller, probably keeping the third for himself. After Artyom left for the institute, Miller ask him about what happened in the city, and Kirill explained him the history. Before leaving for the Sat-com center, Miller ordered him to stay behind, giving him the mission to coordinate Artyom and Miller's actions by radio. After reaching the Sat-com center and finding both the corpse of Kirill's father and the needed maps, the colonel came back to recover the van and Kirill, before going to meet Artyom in the Institute.

Kirill escapes Novosibirsk along with Miller and Artyom. Due to Miller giving his dose of green stuff to Artyom, he soon passes out from radiation poisoning. Though Kirill tries to drive the van, he is unable to reach the pedals, forcing a barely conscious Artyom to drive the rest of the way. During their drive, Kirill tells Artyom of Miller's heroic deeds while they were traveling to the Sat-Com center. When Artyom too passes out, Kirill flags down the Aurora and wakes Artyom up just in time for his comrades to rescue them.

Kirill is present during both endings, and is seen standing next to Nastya.

Trivia
Kirill is a possible reference to a character of the same name in the novel Roadside Picnic (1972) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The novel in question is a heavy influence on both the Metro series and S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl.