A high-ranking Russian general, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, and his assistant were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Tuesday.
Gatekeepers News reports that the blast occurred when a device hidden in a scooter exploded remotely, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.
Kirillov, 54, was the head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence Forces (NBC) and had been sanctioned by the UK in October for overseeing the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government had also charged him in absentia on Monday, accusing him of being “responsible for the mass use of banned chemical weapons”.
The explosion damaged the entrance to a residential building, with scorch marks on the walls and blown-out windows. Two body bags were seen on the street.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the murder of the two servicemen.
“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” the committee said.
Kirillov’s death comes less than a week after a prominent Russian weapons expert, Mikhail Shatsky, was shot dead near his home in Moscow. Ukrainian media reported that the assassination was carried out by Ukraine’s military intelligence service.
