Senior General Of Russia Due To Explosion In Moscow, Investigative Committee: Explosives Planted In Electric Scooter

JAKARTA - A senior Russian general died in an explosion in Moscow on Tuesday morning local time, with the investigative committee calling it a planned explosion.

Head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in an explosion in southeastern Moscow.

Russian Investigative Committee Spokesman Svetlana Petrenko said the explosion was caused by an explosive device planted on an electric scooter.

"On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted on a scooter exploded near the entrance to an apartment building on Jalan Ryazansky in Moscow, the results of the investigation show," he explained, launching TASS December 17.

"Head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide died in the explosion," he said.

According to Petrenko, the Committee's department in Moscow has launched a criminal investigation into the attack, including the background of the cause.

Citing Reuters, Lieutenant General Kirillov is accused of Kyiv of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops.

Photographs posted on the Russian Telegram channel show a shattered entrance to a building filled with debris and two bodies lying in the snow covered in blood.

Reuters footage from the scene shows police on guard. Investigators say they have opened a criminal case for the murder of two soldiers. A law enforcement source told Russian media the case is likely to be escalated to a terrorism case.

Russia itself denies Ukraine's accusations of using chemical weapons on the battlefield. On the other hand, Lieutenant General Kirillov accused Ukraine of violating nuclear safety protocols.