He was a grandson of King Jesse of Kartli and uncle of General Pyotr Bagration of the Napoleonic Wars fame.
Kiril was nine years old, when Alexander fled the unfavorable political climate in Kartli and joined his émigré relatives in Russia in 1759.
Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1786, he was present at the siege and capture of Bender during the 1787–92 Russo-Turkish War and commanded a vanguard in General Wilhelm Derfelden's corps during the 1792 invasion of Poland.
[1][2] In 1800, Prince Bagration resigned from military due to deteriorating health and was transferred to civil service as a pivy councilor.
[1] Prince Bagration was married twice, first with Varvara Alekseyevna Khovanskaya (1769–1788), of Gediminid stock, and then Aleksandra Ivanovna Golikova (1778–1853), daughter of a co-owner of the Russian-American Company.