Bomb hidden in electric scooter kills senior Russian nuclear forces general

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the chief of Russia's Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, was killed on Tuesday outside a Moscow apartment building

A senior general in charge of Russia's nuclear protection forces was killed on Tuesday in Moscow by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter, Al Jazeera has reported, citing Russia's investigative committee.

 

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was reportedly the chief of the Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt.

 

“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,” the report quoted the investigative committee as saying.

 

Citing a law enforcement official, Russian outlet Tass news agency reported that the explosive device that killed Kirillov "had a capacity of some 300 grams in TNT equivalent". 

 

 

Russia's radioactive, chemical and biological defence troops are specialised forces trained to operate in environments contaminated by radioactive, chemical and biological agents.

 

On Monday, Ukrainian prosecutors charged Kirillov in absentia with allegedly using banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, according to the Security Service of Ukraine, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.

 

For its part, Russia has denied these accusations. 

 

In October, the United Kingdom sanctioned Kirillov and the nuclear protection forces for deploying riot control agents and following multiple reports of the use of the toxic agent chloropicrin on the battlefield.