Moscow, 17 Dec

An explosive device planted close to a residential apartment block in Moscow killed the head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Forces, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, early Tuesday, Russia's Investigative Committee said.

Kirillov's assistant also died in the blast, triggered by the device which was placed in a scooter, officials said.

Russian investigators have opened a case into the two deaths, according to the committee's spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko. “Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” she said in a statement. “Investigative and search activities are being carried out to establish all the circumstances around this crime.”

Ukraine's Security Services on 16 December charged Kirillov with the use of banned chemical weapons during Russia's military operation in Ukraine that started in February 2022.

Ukraine's Security Service, the SBU, said that they had recorded more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons on the battlefield since February 2022, particularly K-1 combat grenades.

During the almost 3-year operation, Russia has made small but steady territorial gains to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls. –AP