Head of Russian nuclear protection forces killed in Moscow explosion

A high-ranking Russian general, head of the nuclear protection forces, was killed in an explosion in Moscow on Tuesday, the Reuters news agency reported.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed in front of a building on Ryazansky Prospekt, near the Kremlin. According to Russian investigative agencies, the bomb, hidden in an electric scooter, exploded, leading to the death of Kirillov and another person.

“Igor Kirillov, head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and his assistant were killed,” an investigative commission was quoted as saying by the news agency Reuters.

Footage taken from the ground showed the entrance to a building strewn with rubble and two bodies lying in the blood-stained snow. Reuters images taken at the scene showed a police cordon. A criminal investigation was opened after the incident.

The Russian Radioactive, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, known as the RKhBZ, are special forces that operate in conditions of radioactive, chemical and biological contamination.

On Monday, Ukrainian prosecutors indicted Kirillov in absentia for the alleged use of chemical weapons banned in Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine said, according to the Kyiv Independent newspaper. Russia, however, has denied the accusations.