(BBC News) A high-ranking general in the Russian armed forces and his assistant have been killed in Moscow by Ukraine’s security service, a Ukrainian source has told the BBC.
Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence Forces (NBC), was outside a residential block early on Tuesday when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely, Russia’s Investigative Committee (SK) said.
A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed Kirillov was “a legitimate target”, alleging he had carried out war crimes.
On Monday, the SBU charged Kirillov, 54, in absentia, saying on Telegram that he was “responsible for the mass use of banned chemical weapons.”
The Ukrainian government has not yet commented on the general’s death.
Pictures from the scene in southeastern Moscow showed the badly damaged entrance to a building with scorch marks on the walls and a number of windows blown out. Two body bags could be seen on the street.
The block was cordoned off on Tuesday morning as Russian investigators combed the area.
In October, the UK placed sanctions on Kirillov, saying he had overseen the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and acted as a “significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation.”
Ukraine’s SBU has claimed Russia used chemical weapons more than 4,800 times under the general’s leadership.
Moscow denies the allegations.
