Russian nuclear protection chief Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, wanted by Ukraine for using chemical weapons, was killed in a Moscow blast, Russian authorities said Tuesday.
He was Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces chief and was killed by an explosive device planted in an electric scooter outside an apartment building in Kremlin.
Kirillov’s assistant was also killed in the blast, the Russia’s investigative committee added.
A criminal investigation into the deaths is underway, the committee said, adding that investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene.
“Investigative actions and operational search activities are being carried out to establish all the circumstances of the crime,” the committee said.
Footages show emergency service officers walking outside a shattered entrance to a building while two bodies lay in the snow.
The power of the explosive device, which was detonated remotely, amounted to some 300 grams of TNT, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Kirillov’s death came a day after Ukrainian prosecutors charged the general in absentia with the use of banned chemical weapons in the war on Ukraine.
