Senior Russian military official killed in Moscow blast: investigative committee

MOSCOW: A senior Russian military official was killed on Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a scooter went off outside a building in Moscow, officials said.

The commander of Russian armed forces' chemical, biological and radiation defence troops, Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy when "an explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance of a residential building was activated on the morning of December 17 on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow," said the Russian Investigative Committee, which is responsible for major investigations in the country.

The killing of the senior Russian military official, Igor Kirillov, in Moscow on Tuesday was a "special operation" by Ukraine's SBU security service, a source inside the agency told AFP.

"The liquidation of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces' radiation, chemical and biological defence troops is a special operation by the SBU," the source said.