Russian General-Lieutenant Igor Kirillov, the commander of the forces handling radioactive, biological, and chemical weapons, was reportedly killed in an explosion in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday morning, according to the state Russian news agency Tass.
The explosion, allegedly triggered by a hidden explosive in an electric scooter, also claimed the life of Kirillov’s aide, it was reported.
Kirillov was charged in absentia by Ukrainian prosecutors on Monday. The Ukrainian domestic intelligence service, SBU, accuses him of using banned chemical weapons against soldiers on the eastern and southern fronts of Ukraine. According to the SBU, there have been 4,800 registered cases of the use of chemical ammunition. Over 2,000 members of the armed forces, with more or less severe chemical poisoning, have been admitted to military hospitals and other medical facilities in Ukraine, the agency wrote on Telegram.